Dancing in the Dark
by Nightcrawler's Shadow
Summary: AU: This is the what if story of Kurt and Kitty where they are a dark and brooding demon, and a quiet, shy braniac. As they cross paths, their lives will evolve, but there are bound to be a few bumps along the way. Kurtty
1. Terrifying

Chapter 1: Terrifying

Disclaimer: Isn't it obvious by now?!

A/N: Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, happy birthday dear Shadow, happy birthday to me! This is up, because it's my birthday, yay! I'm in such a good mood! (this was supposed to be up yesterday, but I couldn't upload the document)

oOo

A few weeks ago the mansion had received a new student and by far he was one of the most bizarre and terrifying people any of the students had ever met. To put it simply, no one wanted to get to know the guy and for good reason.

He looked as one might believe a demon would –spaded tail, fangs, deep blue fur, pointed ears, three fingered hands, oddly built two toed feet, and long, shaggy, indigo hair-. He wore nothing but black to add to the demonic picture and to top it all off he was eerily quiet. It wasn't like anyone went out of their way to have a conversation with him either.

He spoke in a cool, emotionless voice, even while barely moving his lips bringing to light his fangs. If that wasn't enough his eyes were usually the main reason people were scared of him from the start. Glowing gold that –while as emotionless as he always appeared to be- seemed to say "Screw me over and it'll be the last thing you ever do." There was _one_ thing the students took from his appearance and actions though; he appeared to have a darker outlook than Rogue and Logan combined.

The students of the Institute weren't above eavesdropping on conversations between the instructors' conversations (which at this point included Logan, Ororo, the Professor and Hank) and from a few of those conversations it had become public knowledge that the new student was a force to be reckoned with in the Danger Room. And, as if to just add _more_ terror, he owned an unknown type of sword, and _knew_ how to handle it.

Still, he never actively did anything to anyone. He spent any time he was in the mansion's public eye in the shadows with a simple, black backed sketchbook be barely looked up from.

This new student's name? Kurt Wagner a.k.a Nightcrawler, everyone's worst nightmare come to life.

oOo

Kitty pushed her thickly rimmed glasses up her nose and ducked her head as the new guy came into the kitchen, dressed as always in long black pants, a black shirt, (no one could tell if it was long sleeved or short sleeved) and his black trench coat. A long slit made its way up the back, parting it up to his tail bone, letting his tail swish from side to side freely.

He ignored everyone around him as always and grabbed himself some breakfast. Everyone studiously avoided him; in fact Kitty guessed that if they had a chance between a training session with Logan -one on one- or spending time with Kurt, they wouldn't think twice before choosing Wolverine.

She nearly tripped on her own feet, as was usual on her way back upstairs and soon found herself fighting to get to her room through the herd of students heading downstairs.

Finally deciding to just phase, she made her way quickly through the crowd and to the bedroom she shared with her Gothic roommate, Rogue.

"Hey sugah." Rogue greeted from behind her book.

"Hey Rogue." Kitty replied tiredly, dropping onto her bed, even slight interaction with the Nightcrawler made her jumpy.

"Kurt in the kitchen?" Rogue asked calmly, she and Logan seemed to be the only ones in the whole mansion who weren't, at least, hesitant about him…not that they were about to all become buddy-buddy or anything.

"How'd you guess?" Shadowcat pulled out her laptop and started it up, deciding to check her email before class.

Thanks to a recent slew of attacks on them at school, Ororo, Logan, Dr. McCoy and the Professor were taking over their studies for the time being. This meant she would be spending more time in close quarters with the new guy, but she could deal…right?

Rogue didn't reply to her question and flipped a page in her book.

Kitty scrolled down in her email, junk mail was deleted, hate mail was ignored and deleted and messages from home were saved to read later.

"Hey, Rogue, Kit, you guys coming or not?" Evan's voice drifted through the door as he knocked loudly and obnoxiously.

"Yeah, yeah, don't break our door Porcupine!" Rogue huffed grabbing her bags.

Kitty closed her email and shut down her computer, sliding it back into its place in her bedside table she grabbed her school bag and phased through the door, following her friends.

Reaching their 'classroom' Kitty scanned the room for a free seat, not unexpectedly the only one was near Kurt.

She slowly made her way over, willing herself not to be scared.

Kurt had switched on his image inducer for class, making him look normal, but that wasn't to say he wasn't still scary.

His dark indigo hair was still long, reaching his chin and fairly shaggy, hanging in front of his eyes which were dark, cold slates of sapphire and he was in the same ensemble as she'd seen this morning. Only now, the sleeves of his coat had been pushed up slightly, revealing the long strips of black cloth he wrapped his arms with.

She sat timidly, but he didn't look up from his book, his pencil making soft scratching noises as it moved across the paper.

She bit her lip and tried not to squirm in her seat as class started.

Kitty couldn't focus at all throughout class, Kurt didn't even do anything, but she was freakishly in tune to him.

When they were finally allowed to go she packed up her things, but couldn't stop herself from watching Nightcrawler leave.

He didn't really walk, she noticed, he more…glided or maybe drifted was a better word. Either way, when she watched him walk she thought of a large cat, stalking its unsuspecting prey.

Before he reached the door, he turned and looked straight at her and she felt herself panic, but at the same time couldn't look away.

His eyes were a perfect gold on white now that image inducer was down, and they seemed to look into her heart and soul, leaving her naked for him to see. She swallowed and finally broke away as he left.

Her shoulders slumped and she all but gasped for air.

~_What the hell just happened?! ~_

oOo

Kitty sat down for Lunch with Evan and Rogue, still running over that morning's class in her mind.

"So, where's Fangs?" Evan questioned, taking a bite of his sandwich.

Rogue glared at him, "Ah don't know…_Pin Cushion_."

"Hey!"

Rogue just shrugged.

Kitty couldn't find it in her to join the conversation, so she just started poking at her salad, her head spinning.

Across the room and hidden completely in the shadows, Kurt watched over his fellow students, his signature emotionless expression on his face.

He caught sight of Kitty and tilted his head to the side in contemplation, but just shook his head and opened his sketchbook to a free page and started drawing.

Light lines for the small folds in fabric, darker lines for the outlines of the face, smudged lines for shadows. Careful, gentle lines for the mouth and eyes, and then with a small amount of imagination, he drew the lips up in a smile that was hardly ever seen.

He felt a flash of pleasure as he finished the drawing of Rogue and quickly flipped it over to label and date it.

Now for his next subject…he thought for a minute.

The younger kids were outside playing mutant ball…perfect.

He reappeared in a tree a little ways from the game and settled back in the branches.

The long 'tails' of his coat fell over either side of his perch as he scanned over the students, finally finding his two subjects.

Nodding to himself, he began drawing again, taking careful notice of how the muscles moved under Rayne's fur, and being sure that each of the Jamies, were completely identical.

oOo

Logan ran a tired hand through his tousled hair and unlatched the cupboard of his secret stash of beer. Twisting off the top he took a deep swig of it before settling into a chair at the kitchen table.

The night was calm and clouds were minimal letting the full moon shine like a beacon in the star speckled sky. He sighed quietly, his keen eyesight seeing more than anyone else's. He knew Kitty would kill to see what he could; she loved stargazing.

He could hear someone's soft footsteps, and sniffing the air, he recognized the scent.

~_Mystique. ~_

How the blue terrorist got inside was a mystery but Logan wasn't about to stop and ask questions.

He slid his claws out slowly, the sound of metal sliding on metal nearly unheard as he sent a telepathic message to the Professor.

~Chuck, we got a trespasser. ~

~I know. ~ He returned, ~I'm sending the others now. ~

Logan crept out of the kitchen and followed his nose as he trailed Mystique. Her path led them around a hall where he met up with a startled Jean.

"Did ya find her?" he questioned tensely.

She shook her head negative, "Sorry…I thought I saw someone go this way though."

He followed her down the hallway, eventually meeting up with Kitty, Evan and Rogue.

"Anything?" Jean questioned; more negative head shakes.

"Keep looking." Wolverine ordered.

They stayed in a tight group, Mystique was dangerous, they couldn't turn their backs to her for a second.

They turned another corner and Jean threw out her hand. "Wait!" she ordered, bringing a hand to her temple and closing her eyes in concentration.

"She's shifted and hiding…coming around the corner."

Everyone got into battle stances and waited. Sure enough, a dark shape came around the corner.

~_Wow, she took the shape of Nightcrawler, that's creepy. ~_ Kitty thought.

The fake Kurt cocked a silent eyebrow at their stances. "Vhat are you doing?" he asked tiredly.

"Don't play dumb Mystique, now come quietly."

Kurt shook his head, "Vas, I'm not Mystique."

"Nice try!" Jean said and everyone raced forward.

'Nightcrawler' dodged and jumped out of their reach, much to their annoyance, but then, finally, Logan got his hands on him, holding him tightly.

"Just try and shift!" he dared.

Kurt groaned in an irritated fashion, but his emotionless mask didn't leave, only shifting to annoyance, "I told you, I'm _not_ Mystique."

"Save it." Evan ordered.

Eventually, they had Mystique in one of the sub basements. Cyclops leaned over the other mutant, demanding him to change back and tell them how she got into the mansion.

Kurt continued to say he wasn't Mystique and Scott eventually gave up leaving the 'interrogation room', anger and frustration written plainly on his face.

"Just perfect, she won't talk."

Kitty stood at the back of the second room, a semi thick book clasped in her hands. It had fallen out of Kurt's jacket while they fought and she was worried that they'd gotten it wrong.

She recognized the sketchbook as Nightcrawler's and had yet to open it, so either Mystique had stolen Kurt's jacket, or that was the real Kurt and he was telling the truth.

"Let me try." Kitty offered quietly.

Everyone looked to her in confusion; Kitty wasn't the strongest fighter, more the brains of the operation, and besides helping out in the technological area, she barely ever spoke up.

"You sure Kit?" Evan questioned, looking uncomfortable.

She nodded, fingering the sketchbook, "Yeah, I'm sure."

They sighed and stepped aside for her to go into the private room.

Kitty had never felt so nervous in her entire life as she entered to see Kurt leaning against the wall, arms crossed, face as blank as always.

"Hi." She greeted shyly.

He glanced to her and blew out.

"Um…look I don't think you're Mystique."

He finally looked over, nothing in his expression changing except for the quirking of an eyebrow.

"This fell out of your coat while we were fighting, so either you're Mystique and stole Kurt's coat or you're you and, you know, uh you're telling the truth…" she finished lamely.

"Looks like you are the brains of the operation." Kurt's voice was quiet, cool and revealed nothing just like always, Kitty didn't know if she felt relief at that or not.

"If you open the book you'll see a few of my drawings, go ahead and look." He invited as he sat down.

Confused, she opened the book and blinked several times. The pictures were so detailed, and so perfect, she was sure that a camera had taken them.

She flipped through in awe, finding ones of the other X Men, and the mansion, the most recent were of Rogue, Jamie and Rayne and finally, there was the starting of a sketch, barely an outline of someone.

Inspiration hit her and she grinned at him, "Alright, you finish this, and if it matches the style of the rest of the drawings, I'll know it's really you." She handed the book back and he took it.

Leaning back in his chair and putting his two toed feet on the table, he brought a pencil out from the depths of his coat and went to work.

Kitty remained silent, watching him, the only noises the scratch of his pencil. Every stroke he made was sure; he never took a single one away. And finally, he was done.

He handed the book back to her wordlessly and she looked down at it, before freezing.

He'd drawn her, or a version of her. In this photo, her hair was down, as she never wore it, her face was lifted to the sky, a bright and happy smile on her face. Her arms were outstretched and slightly lifted and she was wearing a dress that seemed to swirl around her in the imaginary wind.

What she really noticed was that she looked beautiful. There wasn't any sign of her geekyness in this photo, her thick-rimmed glasses and frumpy clothing were gone and she looked secure and confident, things she never remembered feeling in her life. She looked…_free._

It was her, yet it wasn't her…but it still matched the rest of the drawings.

She closed the book and handed it back to him. He took it and…was a trick of the light or was he smirking slightly?

"I don't look like that." She said softly, almost sad.

"You don't see very well." Was his plain reply.

She shook her head and stood from her chair before phasing out the door.

"It's Kurt." She stated clearly when she got out.

"What?" everyone was shocked.

"Trust me on this one, it's the real him."

Jean stared at her in shock even as Logan unlocked the door and let the demon mutant out.

"So, we just restart our search for Mystique?" Evan almost whined.

Kitty watched Kurt carefully as he went over to Jean, something unnamable in his eyes.

She let out a slight scream of protest as the boy moved faster than anyone she'd seen, slamming Jean against the wall.

"Hey, what the hell?!" Evan exclaimed, bringing out several spikes and aiming at Kurt.

"You people are too easily deceived." He stated tiredly, before throwing Jean against the opposite wall.

Everyone watched in shock as their former friend slowly went blue.

"Holy-" Evan's aim was now on Mystique as Kurt leaned back against the wall.

Logan growled and picked up Mystique, yelling in her face.

The words were unintelligible to everyone else, but Mystique apparently knew what he was saying as she grinned evilly and twisted from his grasp, nailing a well placed kick in an area all that men swore should only be treated nicely.

All the males in the room winced, even Kurt, as Mystique fled the room.

Cyclops led them after her, Kurt remaining motionless against the wall.

Mystique shifted into a cheetah in her race through the mansion finally making it outside. She could taste freedom until there was a blast of black smoke in front of her and Nightcrawler appeared.

"Nice try." He monotoned, beginning their fight.

They were equally matched, as was obvious to the X Men as they finally made it outside.

"Dude." Was all Evan could say as they watched as the two blue mutants attempted to, apparently, kill each other.

Mystique growled and transformed into some sort of fanged beast. Kurt ported away and she turned on the other X Men who were shocked from their daze as she attacked them.

Kitty ran from the fight, knowing she would only be a hindrance; apparently, Mystique knew this of her and followed close by.

Kitty whimpered as the woman snapped at her and continued to run, finally coming to a wall.

Shadowcat turned, scared out of her mind and too panicked to even register that she could phase.

Mystique slowly came towards her, slowly shifting into a large lioness.

Kitty gulped, pressing herself against the wall, her eyes widening in terror.

Mystique leapt at her and Kitty heard a loud 'bamf', arms were wrapped around her and then she suddenly felt like she was being squeezed through a tight tube, and moving faster than she ever had before.

The feeling left and she gasped for air, leaning against whoever it was that had their arms around her.

Her heart beat furiously against her ribcage and she was shaking badly enough that whoever had saved her was holding her up. It didn't matter to her though, all that mattered was that she couldn't feel teeth or claws ripping into her.

"Hey, you okay?" the voice was achingly familiar and her breath caught. Slowly, she looked up to meet a pair of glowing golden eyes.

~_Oh God, oh God, oh God… ~_

It was Kurt. Kurt had saved her. Kurt was holding her. _Lord almighty_, Kurt was the one she was holding onto like her life depended on it. And _Kurt_ was the one she was pressed up against.

"Hey, Demon to Shadowcat, are you in there?"

Was that…_humour?_

"Kurt?" she questioned faintly.

He sighed, looking a little annoyed, "Finally, a response. About damn time." That was the most emotion she'd ever heard from him, it was annoyance and irritation, and directed at her, but it was an emotion.

She smiled slightly ~_Good to know you aren't completely made of stone. ~_ She thought.

Kurt frowned and sniffed the air, leaning into her and looking hard, she felt a little nervous at his close proximity but then realized, there was something almost recognizable to worry in his eyes.

"You're bleeding." He stated, looking down slightly.

"What? No I'm-" she cried out as a shock of pain went through her leg. She bit her lip and opened her eyes to see Kurt bringing his tail into view from where it had just grazed over her leg. Ruby blood glinted on the spade and she swallowed at the appearance of it, knowing it had come from her.

Kurt looked at it intently, twisting his tail this way and that to catch the blood in different lights. He ran his fingers over it, rubbing it between two fingers, a contemplative look on his face that she hadn't seen before.

He let out a breath and locked his eyes with hers again, "You weren't poisoned and the cut isn't deep enough to cause lasting damage to the muscles or scarring. You are going to need some stitches, but otherwise, you're alright." His words were blunt, straight to the point and emotionless, but for some reason, she felt he was relieved and so was she.

Kitty nodded and tried to step away but Kurt didn't let her go.

"It's still fairly deep and you're bleeding badly, you aren't going anyvhere before I wrap that up." She nodded, not willing to contradict him.

She gasped slightly and wrapped her arms around his neck as he scooped her up, but then realized he was just laying her down and relaxed.

~_Okay now I know I'm not imagining it. ~_ Kurt was _definitely_ smirking this time.

He released her and kneeled next to her, pulling back the sleeve of his trench coat and started unwrapping the black fabric from around his arm, revealing the dark cobalt blue fur beneath.

Kitty was suddenly wishing she could see what it felt like but held back, knowing he wouldn't appreciate being pet like some kind of animal.

She hissed slightly and cringed as Kurt started wrapping her upper leg with the fabric; he wasn't very gentle, and was obviously more worried about stopping the blood loss than her comfort.

She didn't know if that was a good thing or not.

Kurt finished his impromptu bandage and scooped her back into his arms again before he started moving at a quick stride back to the mansion.

"Um, Kurt?" he nodded slightly, "What…what was it that you did earlier, you know, to get me away from Mystique."

"It's my mutation, I'm a teleporter." This news was a slight shock, for someone so intimidating she would've thought it was something a bit more…aggressive.

"Oh…so why aren't we doing that now?"

"Keety," she blinked, it was the first time he'd _ever_ spoken her name, "You're weak, sore and you're body's been through enough stress tonight as it is. You do _not_ need to add teleportation to zat."

She nodded, but quirked her head to the side, "Where are you from, you have an accent." Kitty nearly bit her tongue but she couldn't stop the question from leaving her lips.

~_Ugh, this is so clichéd, 'curiosity killed the cat' and all that fun stuff. ~_

"I'm from Germany." He replied as they finally made it to the mansion.

A very small smile came to her lips and she wrapped her arms loosely around his neck, leaning her head against his shoulder. This was actually quite nice, not that he'd ever let her do it again, this was a one-time thing, and they'd probably never even speak to each other again.

Kurt's tail opened the door and they heard the other's voices echoing off the walls.

"Did you find either of 'em?"

"No, but Jean was locked in the hall closet, weirdly enough. Wonder how Mystique tricked her in there?"

"Was she in a skimpy outfit?"

"Yeah…"

"Mystique went to lookin' like Scott then."

"Oh, okay, not so weird anymore."

Kitty giggled at Rogue and Evan's conversation. The two mutant teens came around the corner to see her in Kurt's arms and froze.

"She's fine, just needs a few stitches." Kurt said in a deadpan voice as he passed them.

Evan blinked several times and shook his head, but lost sight of the two as Kurt stepped into the elevator to take them downstairs.

"Did I just see that?"

oOo

Kurt stepped into the infirmary and Dr. McCoy was immediately at their side.

Kurt relayed exactly what he'd told Kitty earlier, and Beast directed him to put Kitty on the exam table while he went to get his medical supplies.

It became obvious to Kitty that he was going to leave without a word and so, without much thought she grabbed his hand as he turned to leave.

He looked to her, his mask not slipping.

"Um, I just…I just want to say thank you, for saving me." She gave him a warm smile and while he didn't return it, she was sure his eyes softened.

He sighed, "I think I should be thanking you. If you hadn't figured out I vasn't Mystique everything could've gone to Hell."

She blushed slightly and looked down, flattered by what was, in a roundabout way, quite a compliment from the normally silent boy.

So she just nodded and let go of his hand.

~_God Kitty, say something! Say anything! ~_ "Kurt."

He looked back again and she bit her lip, quite nervous about what she was about to do.

"Do you, maybe after I've gotten my leg sown back together, um, you would, maybe, go to a, movie, with me…" she was positive her face was a bright glowing red.

"On one condition." She looked up sharply surprised he was actually accepting.

"Uh, okay, what is it?"

Her jaw nearly dropped as he smiled. _Smiled, _actually_ smiled. _It wasn't a smirk, or even a grin, but an actual smile; his fangs didn't even look scary with the expression on his face. In fact, his entire demeanor changed, he looked…_nice_, kind even_._ Kitty also didn't fail to notice that it made him fairly attractive.

"I get to take you for pizza after."

She mentally shook herself and smiled back at him, "That sounds good." He smiled at her one last time before leaving, his expression slowly slipping back to neutral.

As soon as she was sure he was gone, she fell back against the table.

~_Wow, he has a nice smile. ~_

oOo

**IMPORTANT! To explain how Mystique (as Jean) knew Kurt was coming around the corner, she shifted her ears slightly, just enough to heighten her hearing.**

A/N: And I give you a brand new story! Mystique's presence in the mansion will be explained, but until then, I shall laugh evilly! MWAHAHAHAHA!


	2. Courteous and Sweet

Chapter 2: Courteous and Sweet

Disclaimer: It's a small world after all; it's a small world after all…(dear God my mind's messed up)

A/N: This is for my friend Epsilon Indi, who is feeling quite under the weather recently; this is a little present to cheer him up!

oOo

Kitty smoothed down her skirt and continued down the hall, trying to keep her knees from collapsing underneath her.

Finally, she reached her destination. Taking a breath, she reached out a shaking fist and knocked on Kurt's door twice.

He opened the door, his face expressionless, but she guessed she was getting better at reading him –or he was just showing more emotion- because she noticed his eyes flicker with…well, it was either happiness or relief, or maybe a mixture of the two.

"Um, hey, you ready to go?" she asked, nervously twisting her hands behind her back.

He nodded and walked out, closing his door behind him with his tail and flicking his inducer on.

Kitty took a moment to notice the small changes in the hologram. Instead of a completely black ensemble, his shirt was now a dark, charcoal gray. The hologram was wearing combat boots, and black fingerless gloves as well, it actually all tied together fairly well with the black trench coat that he always wore.

"You look nice." He commented without sarcasm –or any emotion, but she was getting used to that surprisingly-.

She blushed, looking down at her outfit choice. She knew Kurt hated being stared at so she'd worn something different than her usual muted pastels and curve hiding sweaters, to better match his darker clothing choices. A long black skirt she'd borrowed from Rogue, her own simple silver flats and a long sleeved, deep purple shirt completed her ensemble.

"Thanks." She said softly.

Kurt grinned slightly and offered her his arm, which she took with a small smile of her own and before she knew it they were in the garage.

She shook her head, "Wow." He chuckled and led her over to his car, a nondescript black 2008 Mercedes-Benz CLS.

"You know for such a quiet guy, you have a really expensive car."

Kurt laughed and she nearly jumped it sounded so…_normal_. It was almost surreal.

"Yeah, I know, but you _have_ seen Scott's car right?"

Kitty cast a look over to the familiar red sports car and made a 'good point' expression. Kurt grinned and opened the passenger side door for her.

She blushed and got in the car ~_I don't remember the last time any of my boyfriends, no just anyone in general, did that for me. ~_

Kurt climbed in the driver's seat and started the car, the engine purred to life and soon they were headed down from the mansion into town.

"So, vhat movie do you want to see?" he questioned her.

She shrugged, "I'm good with pretty much anything except horror."

"Damn." Kurt said good-naturedly, "And here I vas hoping you'd be into the blood and guts." He grinned at her and she found herself smiling back.

"Sorry buddy, but that's Evan's and Rogue's turf."

He laughed. "Okay, how about the new thriller?"

She thought for a minute before smiling and nodding, "Sure, but if I scream, you can't get mad." He laughed again and Kitty found herself quite enjoying the sound.

"Deal."

Several hours and one thriller movie later they were walking down the sidewalk towards the pizza place.

"You know, I don't remember the last time I went to a movie with a guy that didn't ignore me in favor of the movie."

"Tell me, how is it _possible_ for someone to ignore you?" Kurt's question was sarcastic and delivered with a smirk but she didn't think anything of it. After spending the last little while with him, she was coming to realize he was actually a really nice guy. A little rough around the edges sure, sarcastic and blunt enough to make your jaw drop. He wore more black than Rogue and he could be intimidating enough to make the Devil run screaming, but he was a nice guy.

Kitty elbowed the boy as they entered the restaurant and took their seats in a booth by the window, through which they could see the quickly darkening street.

"By the way, I'm paying for myself, I'm not letting you pay for me." Kitty stated; she would've felt awful having him pay for her.

"I don't think so."

"Kurt I'm paying for myself and you can't-hey, where's my wallet?" Kitty dug through her pockets, only to find them empty except for some gum and her movie ticket.

She looked to Kurt with suspicion and he held up her aqua wallet with a smirk before hiding it deep in his coat.

"Tails are quite useful liebeling." She shook her head and sat back in the booth with an amazed smile.

"You'll stop at nothing to be a good guy."

He shrugged, "I vouldn't call myself a good guy."

"I would." She replied.

Their conversation was cut off as the waitress came to take their orders, Kitty, a bottle of water and a vegetarian pizza while Kurt ordered water as well and a pizza with everything but anchovies and olives.

"Can I ask you something?"

He nodded, leaning back in his seat.

"Why are you so nice to me, but you act, well…I don't know…"

"Scary, creepy, weird, antisocial?

"All of the above." Kitty answered.

He shook his head and looked out the window for a second before sliding his gaze back to her, "I hate being around people, I'm not a social person I prefer keeping people at an arm's distance and as for the scary bit…well, that's just for fun and comes naturally." He smirked.

"I still don't get it. I mean, is it because of how you look, because you know how Rogue is, but she still hangs with me and Evan." Kitty argued.

"Big difference between me and the Goth girl though, she wants to be close to people but can't. I _can_ be close to people, but choose not to." Was Kurt's rebuttal.

"She'd say you're crazy." Shadowcat stated simply.

"Yeah, probably." He shrugged flippantly.

"So, how is it you're here with me?" she got to the point of her question.

He grinned happily, "Somehow you are an exception. Don't ask me how, but you're the first person I've met that I've actually enjoyed spending time with, and am doing so of my own free vill."

She smiled, "I'll take that as a compliment."

"It vas meant as one Katzchen."

That was the point that their food came and the rest of the evening was spent with light chatter, mainly from Kitty, but she didn't mind. Kurt was an avid listener and wasn't afraid to tell her exactly what he thought of something.

"Can I tell you something a little personal?" she asked as they headed back to the car.

"Is there possible blackmail material in it?" she shook her head, nudging him gently.

"Then ask away!"

She bit her lip, "You're the first guy I've had a good time with in a really long time…and I'm being completely serious here when I say my ex boyfriends could've learned some skills from you."

He looked to her with curiosity, "Tell me, did they usually break up with you, or did you dump them?"

"The first one." She mumbled; it opened a few old wounds.

"Then you're right, they certainly could've learnt a few things from me. They all must've been senile to dump you."

She looked up to him with bright eyes, "That's probably the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me."

He shook his head, "Don't read too much into it."

She grinned and looped her arm with his, "Alright, what ever you say Fuzzy."

"Fuzzy?" he asked.

"Yep. Fuzzy Elf."

He looked at her with disbelief before his shoulders slumped and he took his arm from hers to wrap it around her shoulders instead.

"Only in private Katzchen."

She giggled and moved closer to him, breathing in the scent of paper, pine and something she couldn't quite place, but was quite close to hypnotizing that came with Kurt.

"Deal."

oOo

Shadowcat slipped into her bed after a hot shower and smiled. That had been one of the best nights of her life, and it had been with someone she'd been scared to be in the same room with.

Now the only question was: would she wake up the next day only to find out it had all been a dream?

oOo

Kitty woke up later the next day, Saturday, and stumbled downstairs after having thrown on a pair of sweat pants and a baggy pink t-shirt.

At first, when she entered the kitchen she thought it was empty, everyone else being outside and enjoying the gorgeous weather, but when she heard a soft chuckle she knew she wasn't alone.

"Good morning to you too Kurt."

"Guten Morgen Katzchen." His voice was nearly expressionless, but there was an undertone of happiness to it.

She covered a yawn with her hand and stretched her arms above her head. She nearly jumped when a three-fingered hand was placed on her shoulder but turned with a small smile to see Kurt holding out a bowl of fruit salad.

She blinked a few times before taking the food from him.

He bowed wordlessly and bamfed away.

Kitty smiled at the place he'd just vacated and sat at the table to dig into her belated breakfast.

~_Hmm, Fuzzy pays more attention than I thought. ~_ It had all her favorite fruits in it.

oOo

Kurt laid down on the grass, his trench coat missing along with his shirt as he basked in the sunlight that fell through the branches of the trees that surrounded 'his' clearing. He came here when he just wanted quiet, to relax, and to sort his thoughts.

Today, it was just the first and second as his mind had chosen to be strangely silent since the night before.

He put his hands behind his head and swept his tail through the grass, moving his hand to brush his long bangs from his face before putting it behind his head again with a sigh.

He wondered, flippantly, how he would look to a bystander. Something recognizable as a blue, furry version of Satan, relaxing in the Sun and looking more like he was daydreaming than plotting to kill young children, or something equally evil and completely out of character for him.

He breathed in, his chest rising and falling with the motion. His eyes slipped shut and he felt consciousness slowly leave him as he slipped into the arms of sleep.

oOo

Kitty strolled down a nearly invisible path in the forest.

Pulling her thin jacket closer she listened with a smile to the muted noises of the woods. Birds softly chirped, animals rustled the underbrush and her feet made soft crunches and cracks as she walked.

Suddenly, those weren't the only sounds anymore. She could hear something else.

A light rustling that was different from the others, almost a sweeping noise.

Following the sound she soon tumbled out into a clearing. She tripped over an overgrown root and fell to her knees on the spongy grass. Sitting up she froze to see the creator of the strange noise.

Kurt lay several feet in front of her, his tail brushing over the grass creating the sweeping sound. She felt her jaw loosen, that coat of his didn't do him any favors.

Kitty shook her head and stood, backing up slowly, not wanting to wake him up. Unfortunately, grace had never been one of her higher points and she stepped on a stick that cracked like a gunshot.

Kurt's demeanor changed, almost unnoticeably and she knew if she didn't do something to let him know it was her, she'd find herself pinned to a tree with a furious demon inches from her face.

"Kurt." She uttered his name quietly, almost nervously actually.

She relaxed when Kurt sat up slowly turning to look at her. His face was impassive as he stood and came over to her.

She swallowed, hearing her heart pounding in her ears.

It was only when a soft grin came to his face and he placed his hands on his hips, leaning into her that she relaxed.

"You need to work on your sneaking skills." He stated, messing up her bangs playfully.

He gave her a fanged smile and held an arm out in the universal gesture of 'you first'. She walked ahead of him, coming into the rays of sunlight.

He sighed and lay back down, closing his eyes and looking more relaxed than she'd ever seen him.

"Any particular reason you interrupted my nap?"

She sighed as well and sat beside him, drawing her knees up ad wrapping her arms around them, "Not really. I was just taking a walk and I, literally, stumbled across your little sanctuary…sorry." He shook his head.

"No problem. I'm just glad it was you and not the Boy Scout." Kitty giggled at his reference to Scott.

"Vhat vas your reason for a valk anyway?" he questioned.

Kitty shrugged even if he couldn't see it and laid beside him, "I guess I just wanted some peace and quiet."

"Ah, I'm rubbing off on you am I?"

She gently elbowed him and let her eyes drift over the cloudless sky.

"Beautiful." She whispered, barely moving her lips.

"It's nicer at night." Kurt returned.

She turned her head to see him looking up at the sky as well. She realized it was the first time she'd seen his face clearly as it was usually partially hidden by his long bangs.

Kitty smiled, "I love stargazing, it's one of my favorite things to do."

She didn't catch Kurt's mischievous grin, ~_Well now, there's an idea. ~_

oOo

"Keety…Keety…vake up Katzchen."

Kitty rolled over in her sleep and murmured softly.

Kurt just smirked and ghosted his finger over her cheek. She shivered at the light contact. He leaned down; his lips a hairs breath away from her skin as he whispered in her ear, "Time to get up liebeling." She sighed and shifted again, signs of her waking up.

Kurt moved back a little bit and let a grin grace his lips as her eyes fluttered open. She blinked owlishly, seeing Kurt's glowing eyes inches from hers but couldn't find it in herself to even be the slightest bit surprised.

"Kurt?"

"Come on, I have something to show you."

She sat up slowly and nearly tumbled from her bed, which would've surely woken Rogue and that wasn't something they wanted so Kurt carefully scooped her into his arms, bridal style.

He walked silently from her room and through the halls, giving her time to wake up. She wiggled in his arms and rested her head against his shoulder, a light, comfortable weight.

She sighed and finally seemed to wake up as she asked, "Where are we going?"

"You'll see." He answered mysteriously as he started climbing a flight of stairs. They reached a door that his tail opened and he stepped out onto the roof, finally letting Kitty down.

Her jaw dropped as she stared at the sky. Millions of stars shone brightly and she couldn't find any words to express how breathtakingly beautiful it was.

"Oh my…" he placed his arm around her shoulder and led her over to a cleared part of the roof and lay down.

She slid into place next to him, her head on his chest as they stared at the sky together in a comfortable silence.

She took in a breath of the cool night air, shivering slightly when she noticed that the night was cold and she was wearing only a pair of shorts and a baggy t-shirt.

Kurt seemed to notice her discomfort and moved enough to pull his trench coat around them both.

Kitty relaxed at the sudden warmth and cuddled closer into his side, even going to wrap her arm around him. Kurt just smiled warmly and hugged her to him.

"You like my little surprise?" he questioned after a little while.

Kitty nodded and looked up to smile at him, "I love it Kurt." She nuzzled him gently before going back to her place resting against his chest.

Kurt just sighed, moving his free arm to support his head as they stared at the endless stars, content.

oOo

A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed this, a nice little feel good chapter!

As always, read, review and show some love!


	3. Sarcastic Yet Comforting

Chapter 3: Sarcastic Yet Comforting

Disclaimer: I don't own the X Men, Kurt would be way more kick-ass if I did.

**A/N: No one knows about Kurt and Kitty being friends. As far as they all know, Kurt's still a cold, somewhat evil demon and Kitty is still scared of him.**

Everyone filed into the Danger Room, still in their civilian clothing as they waited for Logan to give them directions. This wasn't usual as normally he would have them suit up first.

"Logan, what is this all about?" Scott finally asked.

Wolverine turned from the controls, his arms crossed, "Alright, well seeing as the reason is nearly here I'll tell you. We're adding a new official member to the team."

Everyone shrugged; 'all right that's understandable' written on all their faces.

"So, who?" Jean asked.

"Him." Logan pointed to the doors as the opened.

Everyone stared as Kurt strode in, hands deep in the pockets of his coat. Kitty, knowing they had to keep up appearances, shied back slightly next to Rogue.

Evan just stared at Logan incredulously, "Seriously? You're kidding right?"

Logan glared at Spyke and growled lowly, "No, I'm not. Now get suited up!"

Everyone split ways to go to the change rooms. Kitty and Kurt at the back of their respective groups. She looked to him out of the side of her eye and saw him send her a very small grin. She bit her lip to keep from smiling back, but from the way his eyes brightened as he continued walking, something told her he was reading her correctly.

Kurt stepped into the change room and drifted over to a darker area to change into his uniform. Black, a deep crimson 'V' in the front yellow gloves and the same color of red boots with the customary yellow X Men belt. He slipped a second version on his trench coat on over top (a bit lighter and looser to allow movement) and left the locker room after Spyke and Cyclops who were keeping a sharp eye on him.

He hid a smirk as he listened to Scott's tight-lipped instructions.

"You have to follow orders. You can't only be looking out for yourself, but everyone else too."

"In other words don't be an ass?" he finally spoke, silencing his 'leader'.

"Uh…"

"That's one way ta put it." Rogue stated, walking past.

Scott shook himself, "Just…don't be-"

"Self centered, a show off, am I getting closer?" Kurt's voice was emotionless as always and his expression didn't slip.

"Hey! If you're done chatting, we can get this training session started." Logan barked into the intercom.

"Yeah…we're ready Logan." Scott called back, leaving Kurt in his place to take his near Jean.

"Be careful Creature." Rogue chided.

Kurt cocked an eyebrow after her but shook his head slightly as the Danger Rom burst into life.

He stood in one place, watching his teammates with calculating eyes, quickly spotting their good and weak points.

Kitty lacked confidence, but was good at getting out of tough spots.

Evan was brash and cocky, but his aim was decent.

Jean, while powerful, wasn't consistent as she wore down.

Scott was a perfectionist.

Rogue was the most agile, not being able to really use her powers unless she zapped one of her teammates.

He felt a smirk touch his lips as metal spheres started being shot out of the walls.

~_This is going to be interesting. ~_

A sphere was about to hit him as he leapt into the air, somersaulting to land in a crouch on the other side. He threw a glance over his shoulder to see it sucked back into the wall.

~_Too easy. ~_

He didn't even use his powers as he flipped and jumped, avoiding the DR's many contraptions. What was really fun was fighting back against it.

~_Come on, put up a real fight why don't you. ~_

Even if he was finding it rather easy, it was one of the better workouts he'd gotten.

After the session, during which he found he came close to actually _smiling_ he went back into the locker rooms and changed like he didn't notice the stares he was getting.

~_Hey if you're going to make a splash, make sure you create some serious waves. ~_[1]

oOo

"Kurt?" Kitty knocked on Kurt's door, for the first time intending on entering his room, or what everyone had taken to calling "The Demon's Domain".

When she got no reply she took a steadying breath, looked around incase someone was watching…and phased through the door.

What she found was not really surprising, but still a slight shock. The room had been painted black, sucking any positive feeling from the room; but in contrast, the double French doors leading out to a stone balcony were open wide letting the light breeze in a fluttering the deep red curtains that were pulled to either side. His bed was simple, outfitted with, again, blood red sheets that she had to restrain herself from curling up under as they looked rather inviting.

A dark wood desk was against one wall, the chair pushed in and the laptop closed and off. The dresser sat across from his bed, a long mirror hung above it. A closed door off to the side led into the bathroom and his closet was open slightly, revealing his dark wardrobe. A spare trench coat was thrown over an armchair in the corner and she could see several books piled up on his side table.

Finally, she looked up to see a sturdily bolted in chandelier hanging from the vaulted ceiling.

"Wow." She whispered, this wasn't exactly extravagant, but it was different from what she'd imagined.

"Uh, Keety, vhy are you in my room?" She spun around to see Kurt leaning against the doorframe of his bathroom, his wet hair pushed out of his face and a towel slung over his shoulder as he stood before her in jeans and a deep red t-shirt, the most color she'd ever seen him wear aside from his X Men uniform.

She blinked several times at his sudden appearance before actually processing his question, "Uh, I was looking for you cause I'm kinda lonely, and I was wondering if you wanted to hang out or something." She twisted a free strand of hair with one finger.

He chuckled and chucked his towel in the laundry hamper. "Sure why not?" he grinned. She smiled back, "So, vhat do you want to do? And will it require my image inducer?"

She bit her lip, "Well, I was kind of hoping we could just hang out here."

He raised an eyebrow; "You are willing to spend time in the Demon's Domain?" She blinked and he laughed a bit, "Yeah, those guys should really learn to look harder before they start gossiping like a bunch of old women."

She smiled and joined him as they lounged in the armchairs he had in his room, talking about nothing in particular.

oOo

Kitty woke up, a cold sweat beading on her forehead. She sat up in bed and looked wildly around the room, even sticking her head through her bed to check underneath it.

Thunder cracked outside and she jumped with a small whimper.

Across the room, Rogue slept peacefully and Kitty envied her.

Lightning crashed and thunder boomed loudly, making the glass rattle slightly in the window frame; she jumped from her bed and phased through her door. Kitty padded slowly down the hall, but when yet another blast of thunder rang she ran down the hall so fast she was nearly silent as her feet barely touched the floor.

She raced to the end of the boy's hall and phased through Kurt's door without much thought.

Her friend was also asleep, the sheets down to his waist. She whimpered as lightning brought the room into focus for a second, being followed by thunder.

Somehow, the loud weather outside could not rouse Kurt, and yet the soft whimpers of Kitty did.

He blinked owlishly at the ceiling, which with his night sight, he could see perfectly. He shook his head and sat up, looking to see Kitty huddled by the door, shaking.

He felt sympathy for the girl as she jumped when the weather took another turn for the worst.

"Hey, come over here." She ran to him and wasted no time in letting him hug her gently. Warm tears slipped from her eyes as he rubbed her back.

Kitty nuzzled her face in the soft fur of his chest, almost thankful the boy slept without a shirt.

"You wanna say here?" he questioned.

She nodded and he let her slip under the blood red covers beside him. He didn't let his tendency to avoid contact with anyone stop her from curling as close to him as she could.

Kitty felt Kurt gently rubbing her back and breathed in his welcome scent. She could already feel herself relaxing.

It seemed she'd been right when she guessed that Kurt's bed was welcoming, the covers were thick and made her feel like she could hide form the world in them, at that point, it was a welcome sensation.

Kurt could feel her relaxing and let himself lie back down among the pillows of his bed, letting out a relaxed sigh of his own as he closed his eyes. The sounds of the storm seemed to fade away for the both of them as they slipped into a relaxed, and most welcome sleep.

When Kitty woke up the next morning, it was to find that she and Kurt were, for lack of a better word, entangled with each other. In fact if it weren't for the dramatic difference between skin tones, she doubted they'd be able to figure out where she ended and he started.

Kurt shifted in his sleep with a soft sigh and she took the time to look him over.

He was so much more relaxed in his sleep; he didn't look half as scary as he did when he was awake.

She smiled and rested her head against his shoulder, finding guilty pleasure in the fact that he slept without a shirt on. She'd been right again too; he was softer than anything else she'd ever felt.

She made a soft noise of content and let her eyes slip shut, not really caring if someone found her here (it was doubtful but still).

She didn't care because this was the happiest and most content she'd been in a long time.

Actually, come to think of it, she always felt happy with Kurt. It was undeniable; he made her happy, and excited, yet calm at the same time. She couldn't remember feeling like this before and she was wondering what this feeling was.

She'd felt something similar to it before, but she just couldn't put her finger on it.

A little annoyed that it was escaping her, she decided to see if she could get Rogue into some girl talk later.

Unknown to her, Kurt was wide awake, and going through some thoughts of his own.

Why did he let this girl so close?

Why was he so friendly to her?

How come he wasn't pushing her away like he did everyone else?

Why wasn't he raining sarcastic and biting remarks on her whenever she spoke to him?

And why in God's name was he curled up with her after having comforted her when she was scared the previous night?

This went against _everything_ he was for goodness sake! He wasn't supposed to be the guy this little girl came running to. He wasn't supposed to love making her smile or laugh. And he certainly shouldn't take pride in making her feel better!

He growled mentally at himself, why was he leaving himself so open to her? How come she'd been able to make her way through his defenses?

How was he able to be himself with her, actually talk to her and let her know who he really was? Why did he love seeing her everyday? How come he believed he would attack anyone who harmed her?

And why didn't he want that to stop?

Kitty shifted in his arms and for the first time he realized he was actually holding her as close as he possibly could. If he had been anyone else he would have blushed brilliantly, or made some suggestive comment, but he wasn't like that and so he just opened his eyes to catch her crystal blue ones and smiled softly. It seemed that smiling was another thing he did a lot of around her.

"Morning Katzchen." He greeted softly, for some reason wanting to kiss her forehead, but holding off, that would've just been too much too fast in the ways of affection. The close personal contact was already enough to throw him off.

She smiled back, also proving that their position wasn't causing her embarrassment if he wasn't uncomfortable with it. "Good morning to you too Fuzzy."

And there was another question; why did he allow her to call him that?

She hugged him a little tighter for a second, "Thank you."

He wanted to say "Anytime." Or maybe something like, "No problem." or even "You're welcome." But he couldn't get his tongue to form the words so he just shrugged a bit. She seemed to catch the message anyway and slipped from his arms to leave the warm cocoon of blankets they'd surrounded themselves with the previous night.

"I better go." He just nodded, still silent as he stretched his arms above his head to get the blood circulating.

Kitty was halfway to the door when she raced back to the bed and kissed his cheek, making him freeze.

"See you later." She raced back to the door and through it, leaving Kurt still stunned.

He blinked after her before feeling something he'd _never_ felt before. An elated smile spread across his face that even his self-training in blocking all emotions couldn't stop.

He could actually feel his face warm, as a light blush rose to his cheeks, well there was another unfamiliar feeling.

He left his bed, making it and quite enjoying her scent intermingled with his.

He almost didn't want to take a shower, loving having her scent on him, but knew that if Logan smelt her on him, he'd assume the worst. And so, no matter how much he hated it, he washed himself clean of her, actually leveling a glare at the bar of soap.

Down the hall, Kitty was in a similar predicament as she cleaned herself with her favorite vanilla body wash.

"Hey, Kit, you nearly done? There are other people who need tha shower!" Rogue's irritable southern accented voice came through the wood and Kitty winced, annoying Rogue this early was never smart.

"I'll be right out!" she called back.

After having finally left the shower to Rogue and putting on a pair of jeans and a muted pink camisole over a white t shirt.

Putting on her glasses she made the decision to buy contacts as soon as she could.

She went down stairs with an oddly peaceful smile on her face. Meeting up with Evan he asked her why she was in such a good mood, she just shrugged and said she a good dream the night before. That wasn't entirely a lie, seeing as being comforted by Kurt was almost dreamlike.

Evan just shrugged and said something that sounded suspiciously like "Girls." As they went down to breakfast.

Kitty hid a smile as they sat down, having caught sight of Kurt in the shadows as always, nearly completely encased in his coat. She actually had to restrain from laughing as people kept shooting him scared or nervous looks, like he was about to suddenly attack them. Now that she actually knew Kurt, the idea was almost laughable.

~_I'm really enjoying this. ~_

oOo

Kurt was finding it harder to keep his emotionless mask in place, and while he knew that it was because of Kitty, who couldn't find it to be angry with her, or even the slightest bit annoyed. He used his tail to pull up the hood of the black hoodie he was wearing under his trench, if only to hide his grin.

Bringing out his pencil, he opened his sketchbook and started to work on another sketch of the girl who seemed to fill his thoughts constantly.

oOo

Kitty was nearly late for class that day, so she was _forced_ into sitting beside Kurt for the day.

She could see mirth sparkling in his downcast eyes as he continued drawing while she sat beside him. Throughout class, Rogue and Evan continued shooting her concerned glances, but she didn't really register them.

Kurt continued to act antisocial, and she continued to act terrified of him.

They both had to admit it was fun.

At the end of class, Kurt did his regular drifting from the room, while Evan and Rogue quickly converged on her, looking worried.

"Hey, you alraght sugah?" Rogue's pale green eyes were concerned.

"Yeah, I mean, you looked just about ready to bolt from the room." Evan added.

Kitty gave them a soft smile, "I'm fine guys, he still just, kinda…scares me." She hugged her books to her chest.

"Well don't worry, he wouldn't hurt ya. Not with the instructors around anyway."

"Yeah!" Evan agreed, "Plus, you avoid him the rest of the time! So no worries!" he slung his arm around her shoulder and she gave them both a smile.

"Thanks you guys."

oOo

Kurt clung to the ceiling, blending in perfectly to the shadows as he waited for a certain Goth to leave her room.

Just as he'd hoped, Rogue left, dressed for the concert she and a couple of her Goth friends were going to.

~_Perfect, and Spyke is out skateboarding. ~_

With a grin, he dropped from the ceiling to land in a crouch as soon as he was sure no one was coming.

Straightening his jacket he knocked on the door. Kitty opened it and he was met with a shocked, yet happy face.

"Kurt? What are you doing here?"

He shrugged and walked into the room, closing the door behind him, "Well, you're the one always seeking me out and I'm pretty sure that friendships aren't one sided." This was new to him, but he was pretty sure that was how it worked.

Kitty gave him a brilliant smile and before he knew it, he was being crushed in a warm hug from the small girl. He looked down at her with an amused expression before hugging her back.

Kitty sighed, closing her eyes, this was by far the strangest friend, and friendship she'd ever had, but in her mind, it was well worth it.

oOo

[1] My personal quote.

A/N: So, today I realized: Oh shit, I need to update. And I was going to update Eclipsed Sunlight, bt reading through the chapter I realized it _SUCKED_, so instead of half-assing it and giving you a really short and shitty chapter, I give you this nice, long chapter of Kurtty wonderfulness. You can thank me later, or now, you know, I like cookies.

Oh, and I have a new favorite movie! How to Train Your Dragon (^_^ the main dragon is black, it's basically asking for me to love it and I've found I'm fairly similar to Hiccup at some points, I don't exactly fall in with the norm either –sigh- but my dad doesn't want to disown me because I don't want to follow in his footsteps, thank God) I may write some stories for it, if the urge hits me.

Oh, and does anyone know when it comes out on DVD and Blue-Ray? (Got Alice in Wonderland yesterday, woot!)

Reviews are like firewood, they keep you from freezing to death.


	4. Protective

Chapter 4: Protective

Disclaimer: Yeah…right.

Kurt swung diagonally with his sword, and then fell smoothly into a block. Practicing without a partner was difficult, but it helped him through the motions if anything.

In a practiced motion, he slid the sword back in its sheath at his side and grabbed his dagger from its place strapped to his ankle and threw it at a target across the room all in one smooth motion. It hit the target with a low thud, the cool metal digging deep into the wood.

He cocked his head to the side and saw that he'd hit the bulls eye dead on. With a content nod, he ported over to retrieve the weapon and slid it back into its place before putting away the practice equipment.

"Want some help there Zorro?" Kitty skipped over and he gave her a grin.

"I had a feeling you vere vatching."

She just shrugged and started helping with the equipment, "Well you know me well…Nice shot by the way." She commented as she put away the targets.

He smirked, "Yeah, you should see if Evan vould be villing to start practicing."

Kitty rolled her eyes, something Kurt was sure she'd picked up from Rogue, "Please, Evan admitting he needs practice is about as likely as you starting a conversation during dinner." And Kurt was sure the sarcastic remarks were something she'd gotten from him.

"Ja, you're probably right." Kitty giggled.

~X Men, suit up and report to the garage! ~

Kurt and Kitty shared glances, "Vell, this is going to be fun." He commented, taking her hand and bamfing her a hall away from her room before porting away to his own.

Several minutes later everyone was in the X Van, racing down the road to the docks.

"Remind me again what the Brotherhood are doin'?" Rogue asked, adjusting her gloves.

"Messing with some shipments, from what the Professor was able to gather." Scott replied.

"Great." Evan monotoned, crossing his arms over his chest.

At the back of van, Kurt watched his teammates, or mainly, he was keeping his eyes trained on Kitty. The fight with Mystique kept replaying in his mind, over and over, but this time, he was watching it through the eyes of a friend, and what he saw made his insides twist with worry.

Cyclops parked the car and everyone climbed out, everything was oddly silent, like in one of those horror movies in the part right before the monster appeared along with a whole lot of screaming and running.

"Everyone, keep your coms on, we're splitting up." Scott then realized that they actually had an equal number of people, meaning someone would have to go with Nightcrawler, but took a careful breath and put the pairs together.

"Rogue, Shadowcat, you guys go check out the loading docks. Spyke, Nightcrawler, the warehouses. Jean and I will take the piers." And with that, the X Men split up.

Kurt and Evan walked in silence through the many tall crates and other such things.

Kurt looked around before realizing that they could easily be jumped on, or snuck up on.

"I'll go up there, I'll be able to see if anyone is coming near us." Evan seemed surprised but nodded and Kurt jumped to the wall, scaling it Spiderman style until he got to the top. They continued on in silence.

They could see the first large warehouse looming in the distance when a shrill scream rent the air.

Kurt's eyes widened, he recognized it.

~_Kitty! ~_

He jumped to the ground and grabbed Spyke's arm, porting them over to the loading docks. When they reappeared, they were met with the sight of the Brotherhood viciously attacking Rogue and Shadowcat.

Nightcrawler felt a stab of panic as Blob ran towards Kitty but breathed out a sigh of relief when she phased through him. Or at least, he was relieved up until Pietro started zipping by her, leveling hard punches to her.

Kurt growled and ported in front of his fallen friend. Pietro ran at him and Kurt leapt, tackling the boy to the ground. They rolled once before Kurt threw his opponent to a wall. Quicksilver hit the hard metal and slumped to the ground with a groan.

Nightcrawler ported back over to Kitty who was on the ground and being barraged by Avalanche.

Kurt lost all rationality and pounced on Lance, roaring in a similar fashion to Wolverine in a bad mood. Lance's eyes widened under his visor as he was tackled away from Shadowcat by, what to all appearances, was a demon.

He attempted to duck and dodge punches and kicks, but Kurt only missed about one time in three.

Once he was content with the distance the Brotherhood was from Kitty he took up a place, crouched in front of her, fangs bared and flashing in the moonlight.

"This guy is crazy!" Toad yelled, hopping away from the furious Nightcrawler.

The rest of the X Men continued to fight the Brotherhood, Kurt not leaving the unconscious Kitty's side.

Shadowcat's eyes fluttered open, and with her return to consciousness, came pain in her arms, legs, abdomen and head. She groaned lowly and squeezed her eyes shut for a second before opening them again to see Kurt and Toad fighting, well that was the polite way to put it. The more accurate term would be: She saw Toad getting his ass kicked in about seven different ways as Kurt defended her.

A small smile came to her lips as Kurt retook his position in front of her.

"Kurt." She was able to whisper out. He whipped around and she saw naked relief in his eyes.

"Katzchen, are you alright?"

She groaned, "I feel like I was just run over by an eighteen wheeler." She heard him chuckle.

"Don't vorry Katze. This fight won' last much longer, then we can get you to Herr McCoy and pump you full of pain meds!"

"Yay…" Kurt laughed lowly again, before his expressionless mask slid into place.

Just as Nightcrawler had predicted, the Brotherhood soon retreated and Kurt finally left his protective stance to help Kitty stand. She shivered in the cool air, because thanks to Quicksilver, she had a fair few tears in her uniform. Kurt didn't think twice before taking off his trench coat and wrapping it around her shoulders, making sure she was bundled in warmly.

"You know you don't have to mother me." Kitty chided.

Kurt gave her a slight glare and went back to making sure she wouldn't be cold.

Kitty suddenly realized what was going on, "Were you…worried?" he growled quietly and Kitty found herself smiling softly.

"Just let me have some peace of mind please." He requested and Kitty remained silent, but that small ember of truth burned in her, making her feel quite content.

Kitty attempted to walk, but found that one of her legs folded underneath her. She let out a small yelp of pain and grabbed Kurt around the shoulders. He quickly positioned his hands on her waist so she wouldn't fall.

"Keety?"

"I think my leg's broken." Kurt suppressed a growl and looped her arm over his shoulders so most of her weight was on him.

"If I ever get my hands on Quicksilver…" he trailed off, muttering about different tortures he would put the blonde boy through.

Kitty gave an unladylike snort when he said something about boiling him in chili.

"Kitty, are you okay?" Rogue and Spyke ran over, panicked at the sight of her being so close to someone they thought was evil incarnate. They both looked quite confused to see her wrapped up in his jacket as well.

"I'm-"

"If you say fine, you're in trouble." Kurt cut her off.

She rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue at him. Evan and Rogue just watched the exchange with wide, unbelieving eyes.

"Her leg's broken, and she has enough bruises to turn her the same color as me." Kurt stated.

"I'm not _that-_"

"Keety." Kurt said warningly.

She relented, "Okay, so my leg's broken and everything hurts, but other than that-"

"Other than that, you can't valk and I'm getting Herr McCoy to give you some anesthetic as soon as ve get back to the mansion."

She gave him a playful glare as they continued walking, "Will you let me finish a sentence?"

"Yeah, I just did." Kurt smirked.

Evan's jaw went slack as they followed the pair, and he turned to Rogue to see her expression mirroring his.

"Not normal." Rogue mouthed and he nodded in agreement.

Kurt helped Kitty into the van and climbed in after her. Shadowcat yawned and drew his coat closer to her, resting her head on his shoulder and letting her eyes slip shut. Nightcrawler felt his lips twitch as he fought a small smile.

~_Well, our secret's pretty much blown, might as well…~_

He wrapped one arm around her and looked out the window, ignoring the looks they were getting from everyone else.

Right before sleep took her, Kitty opened her eyes to make eye contact with Evan and Rogue. She gave them a half smirk-half grin and closed her eyes again to their shocked looks, finally letting herself fall asleep.

When they reached the mansion, Kurt bamfed Kitty and himself down to the Med. Bay. Sweeping her into his arms he took her over to a free bed and waited for Dr. McCoy who came into the room several seconds later, having been alerted by the sound of their reentry.

"What happened?" he questioned as Kurt took his jacket from around her. A small frown appeared on her face but she didn't wake up.

"Broken leg and multiple bruises, hopefully no broken or cracked ribs." Nightcrawler replied.

Beast nodded and started moving around, gathering different supplies while Kurt just sat on a chair next to her bed, watching her.

When Kitty woke up several hours later, she found her broken leg to be numb and she couldn't feel parts of her body.

"Move, and I strap you to the bed." She heard from beside her. She turned her head to see Kurt sitting in a chair, his sketchbook in his hands, which he didn't look up from.

He must have left at one point because he was dressed in his regular all black ensemble, except his jacket was slung over the back of the chair.

"Nice to see you too." She replied with a grin.

He chuckled and finally looked up, "So, our covers blown."

She shrugged as best she could, "It was bound to happen sooner or later."

"Yeah, good point." He went back to drawing and Kitty watched him. Their familiar comfortable silence overlaying the room.

A little while later, after Kurt had left for some reason or another (Kitty had all but forced him from the room, she knew how much he hated anything recognizable as a hospital for some reason.) Shadowcat received two guests in the form of Evan and Rogue.

"What the hell is going on?" Evan demanded.

"Blunt much?" Kitty said with a small smirk.

Their jaws dropped, "What has he done to you?" Rogue questioned. Kitty cocked and eyebrow.

"What are you talking about? He hasn't done anything to me."

"Kitty, we've actually been noticing a few things the past month or so. You'll disappear for hours, you're sarcastic and for some reason, you're actually talking more, which is strange in itself."

Kitty stared at them in disbelief, "You guys are supposed to be my friends," she started slowly, "So, you're saying that because I'm changing into someone more confident, that it's a bad thing?"

"No, Kit, it's not that-"

"Then what is it?" she asked sharply.

Evan ran a frustrated hand over his short hair, "We just don't want you to start acting like him, cause we both know that he's not a nice guy! You'll start wearing black, you'll act depressed or emotionless, you start talking even less and then, just when you think he's perfect for you, he'll drop you like you're nothing!" Evan ranted passionately, Kitty was like his little sister and he'd be damned before he let anyone hurt her.

But Kitty wasn't a little girl and knew that it was about time she started defending herself, "You don't know him like I do." She stated, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed and standing as steadily as she could.

"Kitty, sit down, you'll hurt yourself." Kitty glared at Rogue.

"No more than you guys are hurting me already." They both quieted and she limped from the room, using the wall for balance once she reached the hallway.

Tears started dripping from her eyes as she felt the betrayal from her friends wash over her. They couldn't trust her judgment…well apparently she couldn't trust _them_.

She wiped furiously at her eyes, blinking repeatedly to clear them.

"Kitty!" she heard Evan call after her. His and Rogue's footsteps came closer and louder, but she just kept moving.

"Kitty, seriously, stop!" Rogue commanded, the sound of a plead lacing her tone.

She swallowed, "Leave me alone!" she cried, her voice breaking.

It was then she walked into someone. Looking up she made out Kurt's face, even if it was slightly blurry. He wrapped her in his arms and she held on to him, sobbing into his chest.

"Kitty!" Rogue and Evan wheeled around the corner and froze to see her in Kurt's embrace.

"Let her go Kurt." Evan ordered clearly, his shoulders tensing.

"Keety?" his voice wasn't above a whisper as he asked her what she wanted.

"I don't even want to see them." She replied, her tear laced voice no louder than his.

She fully expected his next actions, so did not jump in shock or surprise, nor did she step away from him, only tightening her arms around him.

Kurt looked up at the two teens and bared his fangs, growling low in his throat. They both stepped back with looks of trepidation.

Apparently though, Evan had some courage left even through that show of ferocity. "Look, just let her go already!"

"I vill, when she wants me to. Until then Lassen Sie uns allein, und ich werde Sie nicht gut!" (Leave us alone and I won't gut you!)

The sheer venom in Kurt's voice made Evan and Rogue step back again before the blue mutant ported back upstairs, Kitty still wrapped in his arms and hidden from the world.

He pulled her down as he sat on the bed, rubbing her back in soothing circles as she broke down completely.

Eventually her cries quieted and they just sat there in silence. She pulled away slowly with a sigh, rubbing her red eyes. By now the sky had darkened, hard to believe nearly twenty-four hours earlier they were fighting the Brotherhood.

"Hey, you hungry? I can get us some food." Kurt offered.

She nodded and smiled a little, "Yeah, thanks."

He tried to give her a reassuring grin, but it was a bit difficult, he wasn't used to doing this.

Standing he looked down at her. She was staring out towards the windows, looking small and scared. He felt something in him break at the expression and so, a part of him cursing himself, dropped a swift kiss onto her forehead before he stepped back and bamfed down to the kitchen.

Kitty's eyes widened and she looked up to see nothing more than a quickly disappearing black cloud of smoke.

~_Did he just…~_

~_Hells yes! He just freakin' kissed you! ~_ An exuberant part of her mind yelled.

Kitty sighed and took off her glasses to clean them.

~_Oh and contacts would be a good idea one of these days. ~_

~_Shut up. ~_ Kitty replied back in a monotone voice.

Kurt reappeared with two plates piled high with food. She gave him a grateful smile as she took hers from him; it contained nothing but vegetarian choices, for which she was thankful.

"You know I probably won't eat all this." She commented.

"I know I'm going to eat the rest." He replied, already halfway through his food.

She shook her head at his apparently bottomless pit of a stomach and started eating, content in her company.

oOo

Rogue pushed her food around on her plate as she held up her head with one hand, her elbow resting on the table. Beside her, Evan was in a similar position, except her was more glaring at the tabletop.

"Why were we given tempers?" he ground out.

Rogue sighed, "Because we're bound to have plans that self destruct on us."

Evan stabbed a piece of chicken with particularly murderous force.

"We should apologize to Kitty." Rogue stated.

Evan groaned and threw down his fork, "Yeah, you're right."

Together the two of them put their dishes in the sink and headed upstairs. Rogue felt her hands start to shake as they approached Kurt's room, as that was the most likely place for the two of them to be.

"So, um, do you want to do the talking or should I?" Evan questioned as they got closer.

Rogue took a shaky breath, "How about we both do it?"

Evan nodded, "Okay, um, that works, I guess…"

The soon stood in front of Kurt's door and Rogue slowly reached out, and rapped on the wood three times, before pulling back.

They waited with baited breath, before jumping at the sound of a 'bamf' behind them.

They whipped around to see Kurt standing in the center of the hall, his face expressionless as they were coming to be used to and his arms crossed, the only outer sign of irritation they could see.

He waited for them to speak.

"We came to talk to Kitty." Evan supplied, unnerved by the other boy's unblinking golden stare.

Kurt shrugged and disappeared with another 'bamf' several seconds later, the door opened and out stepped Kitty, looking fairly annoyed herself as was shown by the glare and frown on her face.

"What?" Shadowcat put her hands on her hips.

Evan and Rogue looked down with cowed expressions on their faces.

"We just wanted to say we're sorry." Rogue started.

"Yeah, we shoulda trusted you." Evan added, rubbing the back of his neck in a nervous gesture.

Kitty's expression softened and she sighed, leaning back against the door. She knocked on the door with her knuckles a few times and Kurt ported back out, again making her friends jump.

Kitty saw Kurt repress a smirk at their reactions.

"I'm not the only one you need to apologize to." Kitty elaborated.

Kurt stepped forward and slid into place next to Kitty, she took the initiative and grasped his hand, threading her fingers with his in a practiced motion.

Evan took a breath and stepped forward, holding out his hand, "I'm sorry, we should've trusted Kitty's judgment and that wasn't fair to you."

Kurt actually seemed surprised at the sincerity in Evan's words. He shook himself mentally and grasped Evan's hand with his free one.

"To be fair, you didn't really have a reason to trust me."

Evan chuckled a bit and they released each other's hands.

Rogue gave him a small smile, "Ah'm sorry too."

Kurt actually grinned this time, nodding to her.

They both seemed surprised at the show of emotion, but smiled back anyway.

Beside Kurt, Kitty let out a breath; this meeting had had the extreme possibility for being extremely disastrous. She was just glad nothing was destroyed.

They were all far from friends, but it was a step in the right direction.

A teeny, tiny, baby step.

oOo

A/N: I have no excuse for not updating (and seemingly dropping off the face of the earth) but summer laziness, as has been the analysis my friend NATFreak gave me a little while ago.

Hope your guys' summer is going great!


	5. Surprising

Chapter 5: Surprising

Disclaimer: Let's see, Kurt is sarcastic in this story and more of a goofball in the show, what do you think?

A/N: Oh My God! She's updating on time? It's like she's back on a schedule? Like she has actually written something? Oh My God, maybe it's because I did! Now you idiots in the back –yes you, I'm talking to you- with your pitch forks and your death threats, you can go suck it, because I have a lawyer and I'm insane, and I will kick your ass. Ha!

-dances in a circle- see what happens when I go out of town to visit relatives for a weekend? I lose all remaining sanity!

Okay, shutting up now, even if I doubt you're reading this.

oOo

Kurt proceeded to beat the crap out of a training dummy, sending the piece of equipment to the other side of the room with one particularly vicious kick.

He pushed his hair from his face as he got his breath back.

"Alright Fire Cracker, vhat is it?"

Kitty came out from her hiding place behind the mats stacked up against the wall, a sheepish smile on her face at being found out.

Kurt grinned and chuckled as she came over, wiping the sweat from his furry face with a towel and taking a long drink from his water bottle.

Kitty shuffled in place, looking down at her feet and mumbled something. If Kurt's hearing hadn't been as good as it was he wouldn't have heard her at all.

"Repeat Katzchen, and this time, please heighten your volume."

She blushed, "I want you to teach me how to fight."

Kurt blinked, "You vant _me_ to teach you how to fight?" she nodded.

He let out a frustrated sigh, he ran his hand through his hair, "Vhy don't you ask Herr Logan?"

She looked to the side, "Well, it's just…I like Mr. Logan, but your style of fighting might work a bit better for me, you know?"

He sighed again but walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Fine, let's just see how this vorks out."

She gave him a bright smile and hugged him quickly. Kurt was proud of the fact that he didn't tense up like he would've a month and a half ago.

~_Besides, this way you'll know she'll be able to defend herself more. ~_

"Alright, let's go." He pulled her over to the practice mat.

"Right now?" she questioned.

He nodded, "Take off your shoes, let's go."

She shrugged and removed her shoes and socks, leaving her in capri sweat pants and a t-shirt.

"Take your stance." He ordered. She did so but he shook his head and Kitty felt an embarrassed flush creep up into her cheeks.

Kurt took his place behind her and quickly adjusted her foot placement, the bend of her knees, arch of her back, even the positioning of her hips. She was surprised with how casually he did so and felt her cheeks redden even more.

~_God, I must look like I'm sun burnt! ~_

Kurt moved from behind her to quickly circle her. He stopped in front of her with a nod.

"Okay, let's work on blocking first."

They spent the next hour and a half going through different defensive moves and stances and by the time Kurt called the session over, Kitty had a fairly decent grasp over most of them.

oOo

Rogue chewed on her lip as she tapped her pencil against her text book and sighed, homework was getting her nowhere.

The door opened and Kitty slipped inside, her hair a bit messier and wearing her work out clothes.

"I don't remember Logan asking you for a practice session." Rogue started suspiciously.

Kitty gave her a small glare, "Kurt was helping me a bit with my fighting, I hate being a tag along."

Rogue shook her head, she hated that she was still at odds with her roommate.

Kitty didn't say anything more she grabbed her shower stuff and left the room again, taking the awkward silence with her.

Rogue groaned and snapped her book shut, folding up several pages of paper in it but not caring as she tossed it on the floor and left the room.

She walked steadily down the opposite hall and headed to the very end of the hall, making sure her gloves were snuggly on her hands. The last thing she wanted was a taste of this guy's mind.

She reached out with the same confidence she'd used to get this far and knocked twice on the door. She only had to wait for a few seconds before it was opened by Kurt.

He cocked an eyebrow at her and she suddenly found she didn't have any words.

Kurt spoke for her, "She came to me. She vanted to learn how to fight, so I taught her a few defensive moves. And no, I'm not an evil blood or soul sucking demon that vill kill you in your sleep." He said it all in one breath, again catching Rogue off guard.

"You're more sarcastic than meh." Was what came out of her mouth.

She was surprised again when she heard a short chuckle come from the blue teen. "Kitty said something similar."

~_Okay Rogue, Kit can get over her fear and actually become friends with him. The least you can do is put in some effort. ~_

"Do you like movies?" she asked randomly.

~_What is it with these people and bonding over movies? ~_ Kurt thought as he replied, "Ja, vhy?" he already had a feeling he knew what the answer was.

"What kind?" ~_Great going Rogue, the short answers are signs of extreme intelligence. ~_

Kurt shrugged, "Horrors, thrillers, nothing western or romance though."

Rogue made a split second decision, "A new horror's out, wanna go?"

Kurt shrugged again, "Vhy not?" he stepped out of his room and deftly switched on his inducer, looking a bit different without his trench and leaving him in his all black ensemble.

They walked downstairs in a slightly tense silence, Kurt inwardly smirking slightly; it was always a little funny how people reacted around him here.

Although there was the fact that if he did anything tonight that would send out the wrong sort of signals Rogue would go to Evan and or the Professor and find a way to keep him from Kitty and that was the last thing he wanted.

~_It's days like this I wish I could call home more often. ~_ He thought as they entered the garage.

"Can you drive?" Kurt asked; he'd never seen her take the wheel.

She shook her head and Kurt started towards his car, "Alright I drive in that case." Rogue was hesitant, but he opened the door for her and waited for her to get in before going around to climb into the driver's seat.

Rogue became extremely tense and was fidgeting in her seat as they drove away from the mansion and Kurt felt a little guilty.

~_Screw it, she never did anything. ~_

"You know I'm really not a bad guy." He stated making her jump. Kurt felt another stab of guilt.

Rogue looked over at him, then down at her hands where she had moved one hand in the ready position to rip her glove off. She licked her lips and merely folded her hands instead, "Sorry." She said softly.

Kurt sighed as they came to a red light, "I'm not going to hurt her, never was."

She looked up and stared at him but he kept his gaze locked firmly ahead.

"Why do you say that?"

He felt his lips turn into a bitter grin, "I do have ears you know they vork a bit better than everyone else's too. I have heard vhat people say about me."

Rogue's gaze didn't leave him and he suppressed the urge to fidget, he didn't like being stared at. It brought back memories he'd rather forget.

A small smile spread over the Goth's pale face, "Oh Ah see." She sat back in her seat, much more relaxed.

He looked over at her as they came to another red light; it was just typical they had decided to leave during the prime time for traffic jams. "Vas?"

She grinned, "Ah see what Kit's talkin' about now."

"That doesn't clear anything up." Kurt stated in an irritated tone.

"You aren't a bad guy; in fact, you're pretty nice aren't ya?"

This time he whipped his head around to stare at her, Rogue found his stare wasn't as…_unsettling_ without the glowing gold eyes. Kurt, for his part, was now wondering how people were starting to see through him so easily, he'd barely been around Rogue for very long and yet her she was, smiling at him like she hadn't been ready to jump from the car a few minutes ago.

He shook his head and looked back to the unmoving mass of cars ahead of them, growling softly, but still rather audibly.

He caught Rogue's soft giggle and looked back at her, wondering what was so funny.

"Okay, so you're seriously bad ass and could probably make Toad take a day long bath, but yer not a bad guy. Ah get it."

He just stared at her. She smirked, "Ah've silenced Nightcrawler…cool."

Kurt wondered what was going on before he noticed that he was chuckling; a small smile on his face as he shook his head in defeat.

Rogue, like Kitty before her, was shocked by the normal sound and it made her relax the rest of the way as the traffic finally started to move.

They made it to the theater without anymore talking, got their tickets and found that they both preferred the back of the theater.

They looked at each other as they sat before getting identical expressions of 'I should've known.'

Interestingly enough, they found it nearly impossible to focus on the movie and spent the next two and a half hours chatting, ignoring the screams of terror both ahead of them and from the screen along with growls, the sounds of chainsaw hacking through God knows what and the large amounts of fake blood that were periodically splattered across the screen.

Rogue looked once and shook her head, "How much are you willing to bet that's ketchup?"

Kurt chuckled, "How much are you villing to bet they had a massive barbeque for the vrap party vith the excess?"

Rogue giggled, a strange thing to hear in a horror movie.

One of the employees, who always loved listening to the watcher's reactions to horror movies, got a strange look on his face when he heard a low laugh mixed with a higher, more feminine giggle.

"People are so weird." He muttered and continued to the next room.

oOo

Kurt had a small grin on his face as he and Rogue left the movie theater.

The Goth girl looked up at the taller boy, "So, Creature…" she waited to see his reaction to the name, there was a slight twitch to his lips and she took that as a good sign, "What other stuff do you lahke to do besides terrorize poor innocent villages?"

Kurt snorted, "Oh you know, the normal stuff…trick unknowing girls out into the dead of night, perform satanic rituals, run from angry mobs, the usual."

Rogue rolled her eyes, but revelled in finally having someone return her sarcasm twice fold.

He shook his head as they came to his car, "But seriously, I'm pretty normal, all things considered." He glanced to his image inducer.

He started the car and turned up the heat, seeing Rogue rubbing her gloved hands together to warm them.

"I love to draw, and…don't tell anyone this but I'm not that bad vith a paintbrush either." He gave her a small grin.

"I'm not too bad vith vehicles either, but I can't work with computers to save my life." He chuckled as he waved his permanently trekky hand for her to see.

That got a laugh out of Rogue, "Ya know," she sat back in her seat, hands behind her head, "Ah think Ah could come to lahke havin' ya around."

Kurt gave her a smirk as they pulled into the garage, "Likevise Rogue."

oOo

Evan was bored, B-O-R-E-D _bored_. Unfortunately, Kitty had somehow wrangled Rogue into shopping with her, Jean and the majority of the other girls in the mansion. A few of the male New Mutants were outside causing as much destruction as they possibly could while Logan and Scott were in the Danger Room training.

Evan ran a hand through his short hair; he was left with one option, that had been hinted at quite blatantly for the last week or so by Kitty and Rogue: get to know Kurt.

Rogue had had her "bonding" session with him and came back saying he was a nice guy. Of course that was followed by Kitty hugging her roommate to death while telling Evan he needed to get a move on so they could get rid of the tense atmosphere.

But there was just one thing: they were both guys. It was harder for you to 'bond' with a guy your age when you both knew that there were things that would be much more enjoyable, like carving your eyes out with a spoon.

Evan groaned, better to get it over with, but where did he look?

He started in the quieter places of the house, hoping he might come across the demon look-a-like, even knocking on the boy's door, but he still came up empty handed.

Eventually, he just chose a random area of the house and headed there, ending up in the garage.

~_It's always the last place you look isn't it? ~_ Evan thought to himself, spying Kurt with his back to him at the far side of the garage.

Spyke didn't see what the blue teen was doing until he got closer.

Kurt was wearing a pair of baggy jeans and a grey wife beater, making Evan take a few second glances as the usually imposing mutant, wasn't as scary without the trench, he looked, dare Evan say it, normal. (as normal as a blue furry guy can look anyway)

The teen was kneeling beside a Harley Davidson, the body was mainly black with dark, gun metal silver accents and Kurt was working away at it with the hands of a professional.

"You can work with bikes?" Evan questioned.

Kurt looked to him, no surprise or shock on his face, so either he'd heard Spyke come in, or he was just that good at masking his emotions.

"Ja, vhy?"

Evan shook himself and shrugged, feeling uncomfortable, "I don't know, just didn't seem like something you'd do is all."

He jumped as Kurt chuckled, "Ja, I seem to be more of the kidnap young children from their homes guy, right?"

Evan didn't have a reply, because unfortunately, that _had_ been quite close to his thoughts when Kurt first came to the mansion.

Evan jumped up onto a counter and watched the blue mutant work on his motorcycle, taking careful notice of how the teen was sure about every move he made.

~_Okay, so from this I can take that he's scary confident…no wait, I've noticed that before, think harder Evan! ~_

Kurt felt fairly unsettled by Evan's attention, wishing the boy would just say something or go away; he hated being stared at.

Finally unable to take it any longer, he dropped the wrench in his hand and whipped his head over to look at Evan through his shaggy indigo hair.

"Okay, is there something you vant?" there was a slight bite to his words that he couldn't get rid of.

Evan jumped as he turned before looking away, "Uh…"

Kurt glared at him and rolled his eyes at the same time, ~_Typical. ~_

"Okay, so then vhy vere you staring at me? Enjoy looking at the one man freak show?"

Evan looked to him in shock, "What?" ~_What did he just call himself? ~_

Kurt blew out trying to control his temper, it was one of the reasons he kept himself apart from others, he had the shortest temper known to man and mutant kind.

Evan jumped down from the counter, "Dude, is that what you think of yourself? Cause seriously, that's not what I think."

Kurt's anger slowly began to drain away and he cocked an eyebrow, silently encouraging Evan to continue.

The New York native began speaking again, "I think you're scary as hell, can fight like martial arts on steroids, and have enough sarcasm to make Logan speechless, but I don't think you're a freak."[1] He surprised himself by speaking the truth.

Kurt stood, searching Spyke for some sign of a lie before letting out a huff of breath, "Doesn't explain vhy you vere staring at me."

Evan grinned slightly, "Simple, I've never seen someone work on a bike like that."

Kurt cocked an eyebrow, putting his hands on his hips, this could be interesting, "You know anything about mechanics?"

Evan cracked his knuckles and removed his sweater leaving him in a white wife beater and cargo shorts, "Some. My dad's been teaching me since I was a kid. Personally, my expertise lies with cars and trucks, so care to give me a crash course in motorcycles?" he challenged.

Kurt gave him a fanged smirk and pulled his hair back in a tail at the base of his neck to keep the majority of it from his eyes, "Think you can keep up?"

Evan grinned at the challenge, "Give me your best shot."

oOo

"Do you think it was safe to leave Evan alone?" Kitty questioned as she and Rogue put away their purchases of the day.

Rogue bit her lip, "Well that was probably safe. Telling him to hang with Kurt…_probably_ not our greatest idea."

Kitty sighed and hung up her last shirt, "So we should go find the remains?"

Rogue nodded, "…Yep." She sighed.

The girls wandered around the mansion, coming to the garage sooner than Evan had earlier. The doors opened and they were greeted with the sound of 'Three Day's Grace' playing in the background and the easy sound of conversation. They caught Kurt's laughter and followed the sound to see the two grease speckled boys sitting at the back of the garage, Kurt's car to one side hiding their spot from view and his bike by the counter. They both held a bottle of Coke and they watched Evan playfully toss a rag at Kurt, who caught it and use it to wipe down the gas tank of his Harley.

"Oh my God." The girls said in unison.

The two boys looked up and grinned at them.

Kurt grinned, "Yeah, my scary persona has gone to hell huh?"

Evan laughed, "It went to hell ages ago my friend!"

Kurt grinned and tossed the now dirty rag at him.

The girls shared disbelieving looks before rolling their eyes.

"Boys."

oOo

A/N: Okay, now I have pieces of the next few chapters written down, I just need to fill in the spaces. The reason I'm telling you this is because I'm going to show all the other X Men's and New Mutant's reactions to the 'new Kurt' in flashbacks later on, just to keep the story moving. So: Jean, Scott, Logan, Jubilee and all your favorite mutants will have their spotlight on the: "I'm Not A Bad Guy' show starring: Kuuuuuuuurt Waaaaaagner!

[1] Going in to this story, this was the description I had of Kurt on a sticky note near my computer.

Tada! Now Review!


	6. Thankful

Chapter 6: Thankful

Disclaimer: -glares at computer screen- the X Men have yet to go up for sale. Seriously, I'd settle for just owning Nightcrawler and Shadowcat!

A/N: (READ ME!) Okay, first, very sorry I haven't been updating but I have a good reason (a few actually, so be prepared) One: I'm back in school and it's pure hell (I literally would rather be at work for the full six hours I'm at school) and it's not the classes but the people, so I have to keep myself from doing something stupid everyday and just keep going. Emotional upheaval is not a good mix with writing. My schedule is jam packed until next semester, so updates will be few and in between. Sorry, but I'll do my best, I love you guys too much to abandon anything!

Second: There's this freaky virus going around that I'm paranoid about getting on my computer so I've had to keep my Wifi off, temporarily messing with my sanity as well.

Third: Writer's Block

Fourth: I have a cold, so I'm drowning myself in Vitamin C and Advil to get better, I get a little loopy when I'm on cold meds (well, loopier than usual) so I'm staying away from social situation out of fear for the sanity of OTHERS.

That's enough for now, but there's another note at the bottom that I ask you to read.

Thanks and enjoy the chapter!

oOo

Kurt grasped the sink's edges in a death grip as he leaned over, his head spinning.

~_Karma really hates me. ~_ He thought as his stomach tried to; apparently, kill itself from the inside out.

A groan escaped his lips and he leaned over farther until his forehead touched the cool porcelain.

His arms shook as he fought to keep himself up; this was just not his day. Kurt never got small coughs, or light colds, he got full blown, head reeling, stomach killing flu's. And every single time, he wanted nothing more than to curl up somewhere and die.

His lips clamped shut as his stomach rebelled.

~_I'm not going to throw up, I'm not going to throw up… ~_ he repeated over and over. Mind over matter was his motto and it usually worked. Hopefully it would help him now.

The nausea passed and he let a groan escape.

Shivers wracked his body and he didn't even try moving from the sink, worried he's collapse on his way to bed, it had happened before.

So instead, he stood, holding onto the sink for life in black boxers and nothing more. He was freezing cold and wanted nothing more than to be wrapped up in the warm confines of his bed.

But the floor looked very hard so he stayed where he was.

He didn't know how much time passed (about ten minutes) until there was a soft knock on his bedroom door, only audible to him with his enhanced hearing.

"Kurt? You in there?" Kitty's voice was like that of an angel and he thanked God for her presence.

Now, to keep his stomach under control long enough to reply.

~_Mind over matter. ~_ He reminded himself.

Taking a breath, he called out as loudly as his sore throat allowed, "Ja, Keety, in here." His voice was pitifully weak and he prayed again that Kitty actually heard him.

~_Maybe life doesn't hate me so much after all. ~_ He thought as Kitty's hurried footsteps reached his ears.

There was another knock on the bathroom door as his stomach flipped again.

"Kurt?" her voice was worried.

He kept his lips clamped shut, but a moan managed to get out anyway.

His eyes snapped shut, but his stuffed nose was soon met with Kitty's scent.

"Oh my God!" her hand was on his shoulder.

"Dear God Fuzzy, what's going on? You look…"

He chuckled inwardly, "Ja, I look terrible." He managed to mutter.

"Why aren't you in bed?"

He kept his eyes closed, "Vould fall."

"Here, let me help." He felt her duck under his arm and lift some of his weight from the sink.

"You have to do some of the work though, kay?" he nodded, but stopped quickly when his head started to pound even worse.

With Kitty's help, they slowly made their way out of the bathroom and he was soon on his bed, curled up in the fetal position, his tail around his ankles.

Kitty tugged his blanket up and over him. She carefully brushed his bangs from his face, even with the fur he looked deathly pale.

"Kurt what's wrong with you?" she asked softly, truly scared.

He managed to open one eyes, showing the gold to be dim and glazed over, "I alvays get like zis vhen I'm sick…High metabolism or something." He mumbled.

He groaned again, willing himself not to be sick as he curled up into a ball.

Kitty could see as he fought an internal battle and was suddenly very glad she'd taken care of her younger cousins when they were sick.

Rushing to the bathroom, she grabbed a trash can and a towel. Going back to the bed, she put the towel down and the trash can on top.

Kurt watched her with his scarily blank eyes as she moved around his room.

His curtains were closed, shutting out the sunlight and she returned to his bed to sit on the side by him. Being as gentle as possible, she started rubbing his back.

His eyes slowly slid shut as he welcomed the loving ministrations of his friend.

"Danke Katzchen." He whispered as he fell asleep.

Kitty watched him sleep for a few minutes before leaving, heading on a direct route to the kitchen.

Rogue and Evan found her as she was searching the cabinets for everything she'd need to take care of Kurt.

"Kitty, what are you doing?" Evan questioned, Kitty had a determined look in her eyes that scared him just a little bit.

Rogue wandered over and looked into the bag Kitty was filling up, "Yeah, exactly what hospital are ya'll goin' to work for?"

Kitty looked up, finally noticing they were there, "I'm taking care of Kurt." She stated as she put the last of her supplies in the bag.

"Uh, what?" they both looked confused.

"He's sick, so I'm taking care of him." She said again, calmly.

"Can't he take care of himself?" Rogue questioned, Kurt wasn't the type of person to just let people help him so easily.

"Yeah, well, it's not like he has much energy to disagree, he can barely stand."

With that she passed by them and up the stairs, leaving her two dumbstruck friends to look after her with a mixture of both shock and understanding, if that was at all possible.

oOo

Kurt blinked as the world slowly came into foggy focus. It was like he was looking through a steamed window, everything was slightly bleary and hazy. For some reason, he was incredibly uncomfortable. His muscles and joints were stiff and he let out a soft moan at the pain it caused him.

His tail slipped around his stomach, and spaded end resting over his abs. He closed his eyes again and tried to make sense of everything.

His memories were foggy as well and trying to make them clear only made his head hurt so he stopped and tried to relax his body.

~_Feels like I was just run over by the X Van. ~_ He thought.

Then there was something light on his cheek, moving up over to rest on his forehead for a second before running through his hair. The feeling was really nice he realized.

"Kurt?" but it couldn't beat that. He swore it was the voice of an angel. Light tinkling bells mixed with the sweet harmony of flutes.

~_You're becoming a poetic in your feverish state Nightcrawler. ~_ He chided himself.

His eyes opened and he turned his head to see the blurry outline of someone he knew very well.

~_Kitty… ~_

She leaned closer and her features came into sharper focus. She smiled slightly, "You look terrible Fuzzy."

He managed to roll his eyes at that comment and nudged her with his foot, glad he was actually able to move it when he was feeling so stiff

She giggled and he closed his eyes to absorb the sound, it was heaven to his throbbing head. Better than any Advil.

Her hand was on his cheek again, "Can't speak?" she asked softly.

Truthfully, Kurt doubted it, his throat felt raw and he knew it would be murder to try and speak.

So he shook his head slightly, hating how weak he felt.

"Well, maybe this'll help." With Kitty's help he sat up and leaned back against the head board, glad he could do so without his head spinning. That meant he was getting better.

He took a sip of the tea Kitty offered him and silently sighed as it soothed his throat.

She took whatever look was on his face as one of relief and smiled, glad she was making her friend feel better.

"You've been out for about a day and a half you know." Kurt nodded, he'd expected that.

"You scared me though." She said softly. Kurt looked up, he really hadn't expected that.

Kitty took a moment to look at her friend. With how sick he was, Kurt wasn't taking the time to put up his shields to hide his expressions and feelings. His face was literally an open book for her to read greedily.

Kurt gave her a small smile, glad that that one action didn't need any effort. She smiled back and Kurt finished the tea in several gulps, letting it finish working its magic.

She sighed, "You know, I'm almost missing the sarcastic comments."

Kurt snorted and nudged her again.

"You and me both." He muttered, his voice raspy as he pulled his blanket up over his shoulders and turned to lie on his side instead of his back.

Kitty sighed and rubbed his back, having seen him shiver.

"You must be feeling at least a little better." She said softly, more thinking out loud.

Kurt sighed, "I hate being sick."

Kitty rolled her eyes, "You hate anything that makes you feel weak."

"Meh…" Kurt replied.

"_Great_ comeback." She whispered in his ear. She yelped softly as his tail tugged her ankle before retreating back under the covers and twining around its owner's stomach as Kurt fell asleep.

Kitty kissed the tip of his pointed ear, "Get better soon Fuzzy."

oOo

Rogue tapped lightly on the wood and waited for a few seconds before a tired looking Kitty opened the door.

"Rogue?"

The Goth smiled and held out a tray, "Thought ya'll might lahke some dinner."

Kitty gave her a grateful smile, "Thanks."

"How's he doing?" Rogue asked, hoping the answer would be positive.

Kitty sighed and glanced over her shoulder to where Kurt was sleeping in his bed, barely moving at all.

"Better, but still close to death warmed up."

Rogue sighed, "Well if you need anythang, just ask."

Kitty nodded appreciatively, "Thanks Rogue."

"Tell Creature ta get better got it?"

Shadowcat giggled as she closed the door, "Got it Rogue."

oOo

Kitty yawned and stretched her arms above her head, by Rogue' demands, and some sleepy encouragement from Kurt, she'd actually spent the last few nights in her own bedroom, but now she was headed back to take care of her best friend turned patient.

Not bothering to knock on the door, she phased herself in to pause.

The curtains were pulled back, with the French doors open and the bed stripped down completely, but most importantly, Kurt was nowhere in sight.

She blinked a few times before there was a soft bamf and a slightly damp Kurt appeared before her.

"Kurt?" he turned to her and gave her a fanged grin, his eyes were bright and clear and he looked completely back to normal.

"As fast as it comes, it goes. Amazing ja?"

Kitty blinked a few times before giggling, "Glad to have you back Fuzzy."

He smirked, "Glad to be back."

She walked over and helped him redress his bed, "So, you're completely back to health?"

He nodded, "Yep and, as a thank you for taking care of me, I have a little something planned."

She gave him a suspicious look, "What are you planning?"

He gave her a grin, eyes shining with suppressed excitement, "You'll see."

oOo

Rogue knocked on Kurt's door before entering.

"Creature? You in here?"

"Rogue! Good, I was hoping you'd get here quickly."

Rogue looked up, and stare as Kurt dropped from his hanging position on the chandelier to land on the ground on two feet.

She shook her head as he smiled at her, ~_I have got to get used to that. ~_

"Yeah, so what is it you need my help with anyway, your note wasn't very descriptive."

He gave her another grin, this one slightly more conspiratorial, "I have a plan for tonight, but I can't let Keety know anything, but she needs to be dressed properly and that is vhere you come in."

She gave him an appreciative smile and crossed her arms, "Ah'm impressed, so what do ya want meh to do?"

oOo

When Kitty walked into hers and Rogue's room later, it was to find her roommate sprawled out on her bed, music in, nothing different there, but an outfit, complete with shoes and jewelry was on her bed.

She blinked once, then a second time, before looking to Rogue who just shrugged and went back to her book.

Kitty, deciding Kurt probably had a hand in this, quickly got changed. The outfit was pale blue, spaghetti strap dress that hung to her ankles, silver heels, and two silver bracelets, but no earrings or necklace.

With a sigh, she again decided not to question it and sat down in front of her mirror to brush her hair. She quickly had the brush pulled away by Rogue as the Goth began doing her young roommate's hair.

"Rogue…should I be worried?"

The Goth giggled, acting incredibly out of character, "Ah don't think so."

Kitty sighed again as she took off her glasses to clean them.

"Uh uh, sugah, you won't be needin' those tahnight."

Kitty glared at Rogue in the mirror, "I kind of _like_ to see, Rogue."

"That's what the contacts are for."

Kitty was silent for the rest of the time as Rogue styled her hair in gentle ringlets.

oOo

Kitty went up to check her hair, and for the third time that night, got her hand slapped by Rogue.

"Leave it alone, it's Fahne!"

Kitty nodded and sighed, resisting the urge to fidget.

There was a knock on the door, and for some reason, Kitty felt her nerves spike.

Rogue smiled and went to open the door, throwing a smile over her shoulder, "have a good nahght sugah." She left as Kurt entered and Kitty felt her heart stop for a second before it began to race.

She'd always thought Kurt was attractive, even when she was terrified of him, he had the whole bad boy, evil but attractive thing going on for him, but now, now she was suddenly realizing _just_ how attractive he was.

He wasn't wearing his trench; that was the first thing she noticed. In its place was a black suit jacket, over top a black dress shirt and then black suit pants. The second thing she noticed made her start, he'd tied his hair at the base of his neck, keeping it from his eyes. It was one of the clearest views she'd gotten of his face. Finally, she noticed that he had a gold ring piercing near the tip of his right ear. It all gave him a very –no pun intended- devilish look.

"Wow." She said softly.

Kurt grinned, flashing his fangs as he strode over and took her hand, bowing down to kiss her knuckles, "Evening Ms. Pryde." He said smoothly.

Her cheeks blossomed into a bright red and she smiled nervously, "H-hi."

He gave her a more familiar smile and brushed his thumb near the corner of her eyes, "I alvays knew you'd be stunning vithout your glasses." He murmured.

Kitty blinked a few more times, "You know…you're acting very un-Kurt like."

He chuckled and offered her his arm, "That vould be because I never use these skills."

"Skills?" she put her hand in the crook of his arm and started walking with him.

He nodded, "I vas raised fairly old-fashioned. I know perfect etiquette, most traditional dances and everything in-between. I could meet the Queen of England and not insult her in any vay."

"Huh, I had no idea." She gave Kurt a warm smile, "I shows though." In a split second decision, she leaned up to place a kiss on his cheek.

He gave her a smile and opened the door of his car for her. They had, without her even realizing, reached the garage.

He bowed, "Katzchen."

She giggled and got in the car, tucking her feet in before Kurt closed the door and walked around to get in the driver's seat, turning on his image inducer as he went. He was still in the exact same outfit, still looking marvelously handsome in his human guise.

"So…where are we going?" Kitty asked as they left the mansion property.

He gave her another smile, "Be patient Katzchen."

She sighed, but nodded, "Fine. I can wait."

He grinned and turned his attention back to the road as Kitty pondered where exactly he could be taking her that required her to get dressed up.

oOo

After several more hours of driving, Kitty finally noticed that they were headed into New York. She glanced at Kurt, who had a small grin on his face as they passed several notable New York locations until they pulled into a parking lot.

Kitty stared in disbelief at the sign proclaiming what restaurant they were at.

"No way." She looked over at Kurt again, an expression of amazement on her face.

"Are you serious?" he chuckled and parked the car.

"Dead serious Katzchen."

Kitty looked at the restaurant again, the sign proclaimed '_Babbo'_ and she knew it was one of Mario Batali's restaurants, and it was very expensive.

"Kurt, there's no way I'm"

He opened her door and held out his hand for her to take. His smile was peaceful and surprisingly serene for him, "Come on, just trust me."

She sighed and took his hand, letting him lock the car before leading her inside. She remained silent as Kurt gave them his last name and they were led to a small table in the back. It was quiet, and private.

Kurt, acting the part of a perfect gentleman, pulled out her seat for her. She knew she was blushing as she sat and he sat across from her.

"Kurt…you _really_ didn't have to do this."

He sighed softly, but didn't get a chance to reply before their waiter came and took their drink orders. No alcohol (Logan would kill them) and then they were left alone again.

Nightcrawler looked over at her and smiled gently, "You don't understand a few things Kitty…but I need you to if you're going to enjoy tonight. So, please just keep any questions until I'm finished, okay?"

She nodded and waited for him to start talking, which he did after he seemed to gather his thoughts for a second.

"Vhen I first came to the Institute, people thought of me as they alvays have. As a demon, monster and pure evil. And don't deny it, but I scared you the most."

"I didn't try to get people to change their view of me because I've never felt the need to. I've never _vanted_ to convince people. I'd decided a long time ago that I vouldn't care…But then, it vas strange…I saved you from Mystique and I…I vas actually vorried. I've never actually cared for someone outside my family."

"Your invitation that night…it was the first time someone had even _tried_ being nice to me at the mansion…Keety, that entire night mean the vorld to me, because for the first time, someone _vasn't_ scared of me. Someone was actually smiling at me and joking vith me."

"I'll admit, I didn't think it vould last long, but it seems…it seemed like you were dedicated to actually being my friend."

At this point Kitty smiled softly, she could feel herself starting to tear up, but pushed the happy tears down and kept listening as Kurt poured his heart out to her.

"I still didn't really know vhat to think, even after a vhile, but…you proved you cared for me when you took care of me." He gave her a careful smile.

"That actually proved to me that you aren't like the other people I've met, who've just been nice to me to get protection or something equally ridiculous and…vell, this is the best thing I could think of to thank you."

He finally finished and met her eyes. Kitty, for the first time, saw him looking nervous and a bit uneasy.

To alleviate his fears, she leaned over the small table and kissed his cheek.

"Just so you know: you're the best friend I've ever had."

His return smile was brilliant and, if Kitty was willing to go there, slightly goofy.

She giggled and they spent the rest of the night, for the first real time, having a completely open conversation. Kurt was actually replying often, and Kitty wasn't the only one chattering.

oOo

Kitty let Kurt lead her by the arm back upstairs; she was finding it very…refreshing to have him smiling so much. She only wished he'd do it a bit more in public.

They reached her room and Kurt gave a sweeping bow, now back in his blue persona.

When he stood tall again Kitty hugged him, "Thanks for the great night."

He hugged her back, "No problem Katzchen." He kissed the top of her head.

"See you tomorrow." He backed away and ported, most likely to his room.

Kitty's smile was reaching the point where it actually hurt as she opened her door and floated inside. She was literally on Cloud Nine.

"Good nahght?" Rogue asked laughter under toning her voice.

"The best." Kitty said as she got grabbed her shower stuff.

"Later Rogue." She drifted through the wall and into the bathroom.

Rogue shook her head, "Wow, now there's a change for the history books." She put her headphones back on and went back to her book.

oOo

A/N2: Okay, this is addressing a few reviews that I've been getting that are irking me in ways that I don't like to be irked. I am only going to say this _once_: **I will NEVER abandon a story until I have completed it! Do NOT send me messages pleading for me not to abandon a story, I would NEVER EVER do that! Even if (for some reason) I lose interest in the X Men (like, in fifty years or whatever) I will still complete whatever stories I have in progress. You will never be left with an unfinished story from me (unless I die, which I doubt will happen, I love life too much) So, for the last time: I WILL NOT ABANDON MY STORIES! **

Anyone who tells you otherwise can burn in hell.

Love, Shadow

And if I haven't scared you off, please review!


	7. A New Kind of Hell

Chapter 7: A New Kind of Hell

Disclaimer: People, I do not own the X Men, get used to it, cause I have to, too.

Kurt leaned against the top of his dresser and stared at himself in the mirror. He memorized every line and feature of his face with detached interest.

~_What now? ~_ He thought.

He took a steadying breath and grabbed his coat, throwing it over his shoulders. He slipped out of his door and stuck his hands in his pockets, hiding how badly they were shaking as he descended the stairs.

He couldn't remember ever being this nervous in his entire life, and if that wasn't enough, his heart was pounding about a million miles a minute.

He entered the kitchen pretty much undetected and grabbed some breakfast, not really focusing on what he was grabbing; just that he was focusing on not bolting back upstairs.

Taking another deep breath, he entered the dining room and walked over to where Rogue and Kitty were sitting.

He knew he was shaking, even if it was hidden by his coat as he approached them.

"Hey." He said softly.

Kitty and Rogue looked up sharply and smiled, "Hey."

"Can I sit here?" he asked carefully.

Kitty's smile was blinding as she nodded. Kurt felt a weight lift from his shoulders as he pulled out a chair beside her with his tail and sat down. His face was still expressionless, but he was positive his relief was showing in his eyes.

Kitty could see that and smiled even wider as she nudged his foot with hers as she returned to her conversation with Rogue.

As the other students filed into the dining hall, they all stared in shock at Kurt sitting at the table with Kitty and Rogue. Evan grinned and pulled out a chair next to Kurt, nudging him with his elbow.

"Welcome to the real world my friend. It has more light."

Kurt chuckled slightly and nodded as he listened to Evan ramble on. He didn't care what it was about; he was just reveling in being around people who weren't scared of him.

~_This is so weird… ~_

Kitty giggled at something Rogue said and brushed his hand with hers, not even flinching as she met fur instead of skin.

~_But a good weird. ~_

oOo

"Okay, I have a question." Kitty stated as she put a piece of popcorn in her mouth.

Kurt, who was lying across the entire couch, his head on the arm rest as he read, replied in a relaxed tone that was becoming more common these days.

"Shoot."

"Were you ever emo?"

Kurt stopped reading and looked at his friend with confusion, "Uh, vhat?"

She looked back at him, her eyes unclouded by her glasses now that she'd taken to wearing contacts, "Well, you wear so much black and you can brood, so I was just wondering."

Kurt chuckled, "Nein, Keety, I vas never emo."

"Alright." She ate some more popcorn. Kurt's tail tapped her shoulder and without looking she tossed a piece behind her for him to catch in his mouth. His tail draped over her one shoulder as he went back to his book and Kitty continued on her homework.

This was how they were found by Wolverine several hours later, except Kitty had finished her homework and was dozing as she watched TV, Kurt's tail still over her shoulder. He quirked an eyebrow at the odd set-up.

~_You turn your back on teenagers for five seconds and they switch their moods. ~_

He shook his head and entered the room, tapping Kurt on the top of his head.

"You two intend on missing dinner?" Ororo had sent him to rally the rest of the kids for food on the promise that she wouldn't steal all his beer and poor it down the drain.

Kurt didn't say anything, but sat up, closing his book as he did so and tucking it into his coat as he pulled Kitty up by the elbow. The half asleep girl didn't even protest as he pulled her from the room, merely yawning and stumbling along after Kurt as he strode quickly to the dining room.

Logan shook his head again as he turned off the TV, which had been on the news station showing an interview with the mayor of New York.

He didn't even take the time to read the heading on what the interview was about, but if he had, he would have seen:

Mayor Gives the Go-Ahead for Sentinel Project.

oOo

"Someone mind telling me vhen Scott decided it was okay to _hang me upside down?_" Kurt yelled as he was hoisted into the air by a metal tentacle wrapped around his stomach.

"I thought you liked hanging upside down 'Crawler!" Evan replied as he dodged a laser blast.

"Not like this!"

Kitty honestly didn't know what was funnier, the "conversation", and she used that word loosely, between Nightcrawler and Spyke, or the fact that everyone else was also trying to keep from laughing.

"C'mon Creature quick whinin'!" Rogue smirked.

Kurt leveled a glare at her as he attempted to loosen the tentacles grip on him.

He sighed and readied himself from a headache later when it didn't budge.

~_This is going to hurt. ~_

He ported down to the ground and ended up disconnecting a large portion of the tentacle that dropped from his waist when he reentered beside Kitty.

Already his head was pounding as he flipped away from yet _another_ tentacle that wanted to make friends with him.

Rogue did several handsprings across the room, dodging random lasers that would've enjoyed turning her into Swiss cheese, until she managed to get her hand on the red button that ended the simulation.

At once, the DR stopped, the tentacles drawing back into the wall and the lasers powering down immediately.

Kurt dropped from the ceiling and landed on all fours beside Rogue. He was breathing heavily and could feel a bruise forming on his chest, but that wasn't any different from the others.

"You alright?" she asked.

He glared at her, "You couldn't have done zat earlier?" he growled.

She rolled her eyes and patted his shoulder; Kurt continued to glare but followed them out of the DR and to the change rooms.

In the control room Logan watched them leave with a contemplative expression.

"Alright, what now?" Ororo questioned.

"What do you mean?" Logan asked.

"What's with the face?" she tapped the side of his face.

He shot her a look, "Just thinkin'." He muttered.

She smiled, "Well don't strain yourself Wolverine."

She left the room and a glaring Logan behind as she headed to the kitchen, knowing if she wanted to feed everyone dinner, she was going to have to start now before Kurt got there.

The changes the boy had made in the last few months had made all the difference in Ororo's eyes. He was regularly seen with Rogue, Evan and/or Kitty and she'd caught him smiling a few times. She only wished he'd try doing it more in the company of people other than the aforementioned three.

oOo

Kurt finished toweling himself off and got dressed in record time before bamfing up to the kitchen and ransacking the fridge.

"Hungry are we?" Ororo asked with amusement.

Kurt just nodded taking a large bite of an apple.

Storm smiled and went back to cooking, knowing the next time she turned around Nightcrawler would be gone, along with half the food in the pantry.

oOo

"We're _what?"_ Rogue's shriek caused Kurt to wince.

"Going back to school." The Professor repeated.

"You've _got_ to be kidding me, Professor! Do you not remember what happened during the last few weeks before you pulled us out?" Evan questioned, quite vividly remembering the swirlies, pranks and general assaults on the mansion residents.

"Yeah, Ah got rather acquainted with my locker last tahme and Ah don't intend on doin' so _again!"_ Rogue huffed.

"Professor, _please_ you can't send us back there." Kitty pleaded.

Charles sighed, "I have been assured by the school board that none of you will come to any harm."

"Since vhen have they cared about mutants?" Kurt muttered, just loud enough for everyone to

hear.

"They don't." Logan stated as he entered the room, "But they do care about not getting their asses sued for thousands of dollars."

Kurt crossed his arms and sat back against the couch, remaining silent along with everyone else. They knew it was true; wealth was always put over racism or bigotry of any kind. It was the way the world worked.

"So when do we go back?" Kitty sighed in defeat.

oOo

"I feel like a lab rat." Kurt stated as Logan drove off, leaving them at the front of Bayville High school. It had been decided that only Cyclops, Jean, Spyke, Rogue, Nightcrawler and Shadowcat would go back to school for the time being; just to test the legitimacy of the school board's promise.

So, yes, Kurt's assumption of being 'lab rats' was pretty spot on.

"Don't be so negative." Jean chided as they strode up to the school.

Kurt sent her a glare and rolled his shoulders, a sign of his discomfort in the situation. This was a sign only Kitty, Rogue and Evan noticed.

"So, what classes do we have?" Evan asked.

"Jean, Rogue and I all have Drama." Scott said, reading out the timetable.

"I have Physics." Kitty said.

"Gym."

"Trigonometry." Evan and Kurt replied one after the other.

"Dude, I don't envy you." Evan stated, patting Kurt on the shoulder.

Nightcrawler smirked, "Ja, vell, have fun running laps."

Spyke groaned but was pulled down the hall by Rogue, the gym was in the same direction of the Drama classroom.

"Good luck you guys! See yeah a lunch!" the Goth called out as Scott and Jean followed after

her.

Kitty sighed, hugging herself; she'd been one of the people attacked the most and it wasn't an experience she would enjoy reliving.

"So, this vay to your class."

Kurt's arm was warm around her shoulders as he led her down the hall. Kitty was tempted to gawk as people parted to let them through. Glancing up, she found out why; Kurt was back in his 'scary' persona. Blank expression but still looking dangerous as hell.

He squeezed her shoulder before gently nudging her into her classroom. He smirked before turning and drifting back down the hall.

Shadowcat smiled to herself as she went to her seat, people were already sending her dirty looks and she could hear the whispers, but she didn't care.

All she could focus on was the protectiveness she'd seen in Kurt's eyes before he'd left.

oOo

~_And here I was thinking school was already hell on earth, apparently there's a new kind of hell. ~_

Kurt sat in the very back of the class, extremely tempted to switch off his inducer and see what would happen. No doubt it would include screaming, running and possible bloodshed. Although whether his mind had become set on whether it would be him bleeding or the other students was still up for debate.

"Mr. Wagner, are you listening?" Kurt glanced up to see the teacher staring him down, the rest of the class had turned in their seats to look at him as well. No doubt Mr. Keller was just waiting for a reason to give him detention and the class was just as eager to see one of the 'mutie freaks' publically humiliated.

Fortunately, Kurt had no intention of that happening.

So instead of getting a 'deer in headlights' look, he just gave an evil smirk causing his teacher and fellow students to pale dramatically as he gave the teacher the correct answer.

~_Hmm, that was fun. ~_

oOo

Evan grunted as he was hit by yet another dodge ball. It seemed that the entire opposing team wanted to see his blood and his so called 'team' wasn't being all that helpful. Translation: they were quite happily letting him get hit with balls, while also supplying the other team with more ammo when they were close to running out.

Of course he couldn't complain, this was _gym_ and they were playing dodge ball, the object of the game was to avoid getting hit something he was failing at.

~_Never thought I'd want to be training with Logan. ~_ He thought as a ball came scarily close to junk punching him.

~_Dear God, please let me get though this class with the ability to reproduce remaining intact. ~_

oOo

Drama passed in an uneventful haze and Rogue left Jean and Scott to head to Science, the one class she had adored before they'd been found out as mutants.

As she entered the classroom she was met with glares as well as down turned heads as people avoided her gaze. Mainly, these were the people she used to hang out with.

Rolling her eyes, she took a free seat and waited for class to start.

"Psst…psst…hey, freak!"

Rogue bit her lip as she struggled not to whip around. She wouldn't react, she wouldn't react, she wouldn't…

"Is it true you can kill people by touching them?"

She heard a loud round of snickers before the teacher entered, quickly causing everyone to shut up, much to her relief.

Her relief was short lived though, when they started into a complex round of equations.

~_This is going to be fun… ~_

oOo

By lunch, everyone was exhausted and ticked beyond possible description.

Kurt's glare was sending _everyone_ running as he sat down at a table in the cafeteria. He was soon joined by Rogue who dropped into her seat and immediately put her head in her arms and groaned in annoyance.

Evan came in next, looking bruised, and he was followed by Kitty who, aside from her hair being a bit messier than it was earlier, looked fine.

She took her seat next to Kurt and leaned her head on his shoulder, letting her eyes close.

"So…I was chased by half the class in gym, second period."

"Ha! That's nothing! I may never be able to have children after what happened to me!" Evan stated.

"Ah nearly got acid poured on meh." Rogue announced, her voice slightly muffled by her arms and the table.

They all looked to Kurt who just continued to glare at some middle distance.

"That bad?"

"Do all Americans enjoy calling people from Germany Nazis?" he hissed.

Kitty rubbed his arm as they all started eating, remaining silent even as the rest of the cafeteria sent them death glares; but by now they were getting rather old and the X Men were able to ignore them fairly easily.

"Vhere's the Boy Scout and Red?" Kurt questioned after they'd finished eating.

Rogue shrugged, but Evan was able to answer, "I think they're eating out on the quad."

"Great show of team unity." Kitty mumbled under her breath.

Kurt squeezed her hand under the table before pulling her up.

"Come on, I'm getting tired of the looks." He led them out of the cafeteria and back into the halls. They all felt relief when the doors swung shut, closing them off from the rest of the school.

"Honestly, if we have to go through this every day from now on, Ah don't see tha point in comin'!" Rogue crossed her arms, feeling extremely cross.

"I say we protest." Evan stated.

"And vhat do ve do vhen they arrest you and deport me?" Kurt asked sharply.

Evan opened his mouth to reply but was cut off as Kitty spoke, "I'd rather remain out of prison and have Kurt here, so don't even think about it."

Spyke closed his mouth and nodded, "It was just a thought."

"Porcupine, nothin' is gonna work rahght about now, so let's just stick with layin' low."

"Yeah, good plan, but what do we do when people decide: to hell with the law, the world will be better off without mutants!" Kitty asked, moving closer to Kurt, wishing she could hide in his trench coat and never come out.

"How about ve just vorry about getting through the day?" Kurt suggested. "That vay there's less of a chance of someone committing suicide."

"Bright little ray a' sunshine aren't ya?" Rogue grinned slightly.

Nightcrawler smirked, but there was an undercurrent of humor to it opposed to evil, "It's vhat I do best."

oOo

Logan leaned against the X Van as he waited for the kids to get out of the school. He leveled hard glares at anyone that came too close, even growling once in a while so the teens would get the message.

When he finally caught the scents of the X Men, he looked to the door only to suddenly decide sending the kids back to school had been a _very_ bad idea.

Jean's hair was a mess and she looked exhausted, just like everyone else. Scott was moving sluggishly and he was favoring his right arm instead of his left. Kitty's eyes were a little red, like she'd been crying and Kurt looked like he was about to murder someone.

Rogue also had a pissed off expression on her face, but she was also focusing on helping Evan walk. Spyke was limping slightly, having to rely on Rogue for balance as they made it down the steps and finally came to up to Wolverine.

Kurt spoke before Logan could say anything, "Get us out of here before I kill someone." He spoke in a hard tone, and from the looks on the others' faces, they believed him.

Wolverine opened the door and waited for the kids to file in before getting in himself and pulling away from the school.

"Should I even ask?" he questioned once they'd been driving for a few minutes.

"You know that saying 'everything going to hell in a hand basket'?" Jean asked.

Logan nodded.

"Multiply that by sixty and add in a Monday morning and you get our day." Evan finished as he massaged his ankle.

Wolverine growled but didn't reply as they pulled up to the mansion. Almost instantly, the van was empty as the teens deserted it to get inside.

Kurt didn't even wait for the vehicle to come to a complete stop before he bamfed away. Seconds later, the roar of a motor was heard as Kurt raced back off the property on his motorcycle.

Rogue helped Evan back out of the van before Logan came over and assisted him. Kitty also climbed out, looking after Kurt with a worried expression. She sighed and walked inside, phasing through the door.

"I'll take him ta Hank, Stripes. You go fix up some of that fried chicken of yours. I think _everyone_ needs it."

The southern native nodded and headed inside, quickly taking over the kitchen.

Logan sighed as he helped Spyke inside, wondering what the fastest way to decapitate an entire school board was.

oOo

Wind beat against his face as Kurt pushed his bike to its limit. Now was the point where he remembered quite vividly why he'd spent so long blocking his emotions. It was so things like this wouldn't bother him. But now those walls were down and the emotions crashed over him like a tsunami; which, actually, in his current state of mind, was just as dangerous.

He flew past the city limit and continued going, long until the sun was starting to dip below the horizon. It was only when he noticed that the cars he was passing had their lights on that he finally saw how dark it had gotten.

Biting his lip hard enough for blood to start running down his chin he turned off the highway and started down a dirt and gravel road, slowly decelerating to a less dangerous speed.

He cruised through the trees and turned off again into an empty lot of land that was for sale.

He came to a complete stop and got of his bike, putting down the kickstand as the motor ground to a halt.

It was almost scary how absolutely silent it was. It reminded Kurt of his first night in his room in the Institute. All the rooms were soundproof and it had nearly made his ears ring with how quiet it was. [1]

He rubbed away the blood from his face with his sleeve and walked over to sit down in the middle of the lot on the grass. He groaned and fell back, covering his face with his hands as he continued to moan.

"Idiot…Moron…" he muttered to himself.

Eventually, his emotionally fatigued body gave in to the siren song that was sleep, and he closed his eyes to the world as the moon rose.

oOo (I was originally going to stop the chapter here, but I decided to give you a bit more)oOo

Kitty didn't touch her food at dinner; instead she was always looking to her right, where Kurt was _supposed_ to be sitting.

"He can take care of himself Kit, don't worry." Evan assured her.

She sighed, "I know that, but I'm still worried."

Evan sighed and squeezed her shoulder, having no more words to try and make her feel better.

"I'm just going to head up to bed." Kitty said softly. "Thanks for dinner Rogue." She tried to smile at her roommate, but failed quite spectacularly as she left the room.

She climbed the stairs, hugging herself as she did so. She was _really_ worried about her best friend. She didn't like that he hadn't come home yet and she _wanted_ him home.

~_Please be safe. ~_

oOo

Kurt woke up and blinked a few times when he saw the sky above him.

~_What the…oh…right. ~_ He groaned and sat up, extremely stiff from sleeping on the ground and in the cold. He went to all fours and shook himself to get rid of the dew that had accumulated all over his body.

"Kitty is going to kill me." He muttered as he strode back over to his bike, turning it on and pulling it out of the lot.

~_But before she does I'm having a hot shower and sleeping for six hours. ~_

oOo

Kitty woke up when she heard the roar of a motor steadily increasing. She shot from her bed and tore down the hall, running flat out before she mentally slapped herself and phased down to the garage instead.

When she got there, Kurt had switched off his bike and was rubbing furiously at his hair with a towel to dry it.

"Kurt!" he looked over but didn't have time to reply as she plowed into him at full speed, sending them both to the ground.

"Keety!"

"Don't you _ever_ do that again, do you hear me! Never again! I was worried sick! I never _ever_ want you to do that again!" she yelled at him, causing him to be thrown into a state of shock.

"Well? Are you going to say anything?" she glared at him.

Kurt blinked a few times before wrapping his arms around her much smaller frame and crushing her to him in a warm hug. Kitty became quite startled at the act affection but hugged him back as he buried his face in her hair.

Kurt smiled softly as he breathed in. Vanilla and mango infused his senses; it smelt like home. He sighed softly, kissing Kitty's cheek.

Shadowcat had no clue what had suddenly gotten into her best friend, but she wasn't complaining.

oOo

A/N: If anyone's wondering why Kurt didn't have an accent while he was talking to himself, it's because he was speaking in German.

[1] When I went to a room to sleep one night, it was dead silent and several floors away from everyone else. My ears were ringing it was so quiet.

Oh and girls, don't lie and say Kurt on a motorcycle isn't sexy as hell, lol.

Once again, I thank you all for being so patient.

Love ya long time!


	8. Message Failed

Chapter 8: Message Failed

Disclaimer: random comments!

Kurt paced back and forth in his room, some rock band was blasting over the speakers of his stereo but he didn't seem to even notice the floor shaking volume. He wouldn't let this go on. He wouldn't let people hurt his friends anymore.

That was a strange thought, actually. A little while ago he'd been feared, avoided, and now he had friends. Friends he liked and that liked him back.

He ran a frustrated hand through his hair, which was still getting in front of his eyes.

He glanced to the mirror and took in his appearance.

Demonic, evil looking and just plain out scary was what he saw. He glared at his reflection before looking away.

~_Alright Wagner, time to get serious. ~_

oOo

Kitty and Rogue entered the kitchen to find breakfast waiting for them in the form of pancakes and or waffles.

"Wow, carb overload." Rogue stated even as she loaded up her plate with waffles and fruit.

Kitty giggled and followed suit.

"Wonder who did the cooking?" she thought out loud as they sat down.

Rogue shrugged her mouth full.

"Hey, where are tha guys?" Rogue finally spoke after she'd swallowed.

Kitty was the one to shrug this time, "Sleeping?"

Rogue snorted, "Yeah, Kurt sleep in? Ha!"

Shadowcat had to giggle at that as she put her dishes in the dish washer.

"Hey Kitty, Rogue? Evan told me to tell you, to go down to the garage when you were ready to go." Jamie (or maybe one of his doubles) appeared in the doorway.

"Thanks Jamie!" Kitty chimed as she grabbed her bag and Rogue's arm.

"Come on, let's get this over with."

Rogue groaned, "Yippee, and other day in hell. I'd rather spend time with Kurt in a bad mood."

Kitty pinched the Goth, "He's funny when's he's grumpy, actually."

Rogue rolled her eyes, "Only you would think that."

The girls entered the garage and found Evan waiting for them.

"Hey, where's Creature?" Rogue asked as she threw her back pack in Kurt's car.

"He's coming." Evan said, glancing to his watch.

Just then, Kurt appeared in a blast of black smoke as per usual.

"Hey, sorry I'm late." He said, dusting himself off.

Kitty blinked, "Kurt…why are you dressed so normal?"

"Huh?" Kurt looked down at his hologram self, black hoodie, black jeans, black converse. The only thing that remained of his truly intimidating persona was the gold ring in the upper part of his ear.

He shrugged, "Didn't feel like vearing my coat."

Kitty just stared at him oddly as he went around them getting in the car and starting it.

"Well? Are we going to Hell or vhat?"

Everyone groaned, but climbed in and soon they were headed to school.

When they pulled up, people gave them a wide berth, while still giving them death glares. It really was something that people who hadn't spoken to them _once,_ hated them.

Kurt and Evan shared looks and Kurt climbed out of the car and strode over to the person closest to them, Duncan Matthews.

"What is he doing?" Kitty questioned as she twisted in her seat to watch.

Evan replied in monotone voice, "Just watch."

Duncan cocked an eyebrow at the boy that walked up to him, "What do ya want mutie?"

"I vant you to leave me and the other mutants _alone_."

Duncan snorted, "Ha, sure, alright. I'll do that around the same time you freaks disappear of the face of the planet."

Several people gasped and a few girls gave out short screams as Kurt grabbed the front of Duncan's shirt and hoisted him into the air with one hand.

"Hey! Whoa, put me down!" Duncan paled as he hung in the air, his feet clear of the pavement.

Kurt growled low in his throat, "Listen closely you vorthless piece of flesh. You touch me or my friends and I'll make sure _you're_ the one viped off the face of the planet. Got it?" somehow Kurt's accent made the threat more dangerous, Kitty related it to watching the Nazis in _Schindler's List_, no matter how disturbing the comparison of her best friend to a Nazi was.

Duncan didn't reply and Kurt actually snarled as his tail escaped the confines of his sweater and whiped around. This caused even more people to step back, some even ran off.

"Okay, okay! I promise! I won't do anything to any of you!" Duncan was sweating by now as he struggled to get out of Kurt's grip.

"Good." He dropped Duncan and the jock landed on his butt on the pavement before he scrambled back in a clumsy crabwalk .

Kurt addressed the rest of the students watching, "That goes for all of you! Don't touch us!" he finished his statement by turning off his inducer. Several people screamed and a few fainted.

Kitty and Rogue gasped. Rogue brought her hand to her mouth while Kitty shielded her eyes, not wanting to watch anymore. Evan just gave a proud smile.

"Got it?" Kurt glared at the student body, fangs flashing in the sunlight.

There was a general nod of agreement in the crowd as they started backing away.

"Good." Kurt stated whipping around to head back to the car, tail lashing behind him. Quickly, the rest of the students dispersed, trying to get as far away from them as possible.

"You _so_ just painted a target on the back of your head." Rogue stated as Kurt opened the door.

Kurt grinned, "I know."

"And you don't care?" Kitty questioned as he gave her his hand to help her out.

"Nope."

"Why?" Rogue questioned.

Kurt gave them a small smile, "Because you're my friends and I'm not letting them hurt you anymore."

Kitty, letting go of his hand, hugged him tightly.

Kurt used the hand that wasn't holding his bag to hug her back.

Rogue could only smile, "Thanks Creature."

He grinned, "No problem Stripes."

oOo

This time when Kitty was dropped off at her class by Kurt, no one glared at her as she entered. The teacher _did_ give Kurt (who was back in his hologram) a fearful look.

Kitty gave him a small wave as he left, and then sat down.

Class continued as normal, Kitty being treated as she had been before they'd been shown as mutants.

Unfortunately, the teacher then decided to assign a partner project.

As the rest of her classmates quickly buddied up, Kitty felt a small flash of hurt. A few months ago, any one of her classmates would have been her partner because of her good grades, but now she was being treated no better than a leaper.

She sighed and pulled out a piece of paper to begin planning her solo project.

"Hey Kitty." She looked up and saw one of her old friends standing in front of her. A few people were staring at her like she was crazy.

"Uh…hey Amy, what's up?"

"Um…do you want to be partners?"

Kitty felt her jaw loosen slightly and she blinked a few times, "Seriously?"

The short blonde shrugged, "Sure. I mean, why not?"

Kitty stared for a few more seconds, "Sure." She replied slowly.

Amy smiled a bit and sat beside her, pulling out her books to begin working.

Throughout class, Kitty kept a sharp eye on her partner, but the girl wasn't acting any different than before.

"Okay! Seriously, what's going on?" Kitty pierced the girl with a hard stare that she'd borrowed from Kurt.

"What do you mean?"

"Is this a joke? Some kind of prank or dare? Yesterday you wouldn't look at me. Before we were pulled out, you stood by when I was being bullied. What changed?" Kitty glared at the girl without forgiveness, finding some kind of sadistic pleasure as she watched her fidget. Maybe she'd been hanging around Kurt too much…

"I guess I'm…"

Kitty raised one eyebrow, "You're what?"

"Sorry." Amy said softly.

Kitty frowned, "Why now all of a sudden?"

Amy sighed, "I don't know. I guess…I don't know."

"Exactly." Kitty stated, going back to her work.

Amy blushed in embarrassment and bit her lip but didn't say anything else until the bell rang.

"Your projects are due next week!" the teacher called out over the din of student voices.

Kitty groaned, that meant she would need to see her partner over the weekend.

"So…do you want to come to my house or…" Amy hugged her book to her chest.

Kitty sighed, "Would your parents _approve_ of that?"

Her shoulders slumped and she shook her head.

"Then I guess you should come to the Institute." Kitty finished in a tone that spoke of the end of the world.

Amy nodded, "Alright, I guess I'll just, uh…"

Kitty sighed, "I can come pick you up."

Amy nodded, "'Kay…uh, see you Kitty." She then beat a very hasty retreat down the hall.

Kitty let out a breath and turned only to run into someone.

"Watch where you're goin' freak!" Duncan hissed.

Kitty glared up at him, "Bite me jackass."

The hall became silent.

Duncan looked down at her like she was a bug, "What'd you just say?"

Kitty rolled her eyes, "What, are you deaf and stupid?"

A few people gasped and Duncan started turning an interesting shade of purple.

Kitty rose an eyebrow, "What?"

"You'll pay for that you little slut."

Kitty stayed completely still even as Duncan's fist came at her face. She smiled grimly when it passed through her. People gasped and Duncan fell out of balance.

Kitty stepped to the side and solidified; digging her elbow into his gut and using his own weight against him to have him topple over and fall on his face.

Kitty put her hands on her hips and glared at him, "What part of 'don't mess with us' doesn't your teeny tiny brain understand?" with that, she turned and walked down the hall, feeling oddly proud of herself.

oOo

When lunch came, Kitty entered the cafeteria to find everyone at one table but Kurt.

"Hey, where's Kurt?" she questioned as she sat down.

Rogue shrugged, "I haven't seen him since this mornin'."

"Me neither."

"Negative."

"Nope."

Kitty frowned and put her chin in her hand, leaning against the table.

Their answer came in the form of cheering and calling outside.

Everyone stared with trepidation, "You don't think?"

Everyone leapt from the table at Scott's half formed thought and raced to the doors.

Coming outside Kitty barely restrained a scream. Two of the jocks were holding Kurt's arms behind his back. They were both struggling to keep Kurt in place as the boy thrashed to get away.

"Hold him still!" it wasn't Duncan, but one of the other jocks that said it as he punched Kurt in the stomach.

Kurt coughed and doubled over as much as he was allowed before another punch hit him. He looked up and growled defiantly.

"Get rid of that freaks watch!" someone in the crowd called.

The jock smirked and ripped the watch from Kurt's wrist, throwing it over his shoulder. Jean caught it with her TK and brought it into her hands before pocketing it.

"We have ta stop this!" Rogue cried, trying to force her way through the crowd.

The jock leered at Kurt who continued to glare, "You think you're so special don't you? With your unnatural abilities and your freaky appearance. You think your amazing, well, how amazing do you feel _now_?" he punched Kurt in the shoulder this time.

"Huh? How special are you now?" he continued to hit Kurt over and over. Nightcrawler's struggles slowly lessened before dying out entirely as he basically hung there limply.

"Let him go!" Evan yelled.

"Put him down!" Kitty joined in, phasing through the crowd and pulling Evan and Rogue with her.

They came into the small circle in the middle of the crowd.

The jock rolled his eyes, "Or what?"

Kurt's head suddenly shot up and he flipped backwards, twisting his captor's arms enough to release him as he kicked them forward.

The jock spun and landed a solid punch to Kurt's jaw causing the blue mutant to fall back, hitting his head on the concrete and black out.

He was smirking smugly, before he felt someone ram into him from the side.

He fell to the ground and looked up at Evan who looked livid. Spyke had shoulder checked the jock in the ribs and the bigger boy could feel a bruise forming there.

Evan, seeing red, brought a spike out from the top of his wrist and pointed it at the shaking boy's throat.

"We told you to let him go." He growled.

Kitty rushed over to Kurt and turned him over to see a cut on his temple bleeding slightly and matting his fur. She looked at the crowd and glared at them.

"You're all sick and twisted." She bit out as Jean helped her hoist him up between the two of them.

Evan pulled the spike back under his skin and took Jean's place next to Kurt; he and Kitty were closer than height and it would keep Kurt more level. Moving quickly, but carefully they made it to the trees and laid Kurt down.

"Is he okay?" Rogue peeked over Kitty's shoulder.

Nightcrawler moaned and opened his eyes. Blinking owlishly, the fuzzy blobs in his vision slowly turned into the worried faces of his friends. He winced and brought a hand to his forehead.

"Ow."

"You okay Fuzzy?" Kitty asked softly.

Kurt closed his eyes and put his head back, "No."

They shared alarmed expressions; Kurt was _admitting_ he wasn't okay?

Jean kneeled next to her blue teammate and placed her hand gently on his chest. Kurt tensed and hissed slightly.

"Think I cracked a rib." Kurt managed to get out. Jean immediately withdrew her hand.

"God, what happened?" Scott ran a hand through his hair.

Kurt, eyes still closed, managed to reply in a pain tensed voice. "Short version: they caught me off guard and started beating me to a pulp. Before I could do anything those two idiots had my arms behind my back and _dummkopf_ two hit my head." He groaned and his tail lashed slightly, "I _really_ hate that guy."

"Well, c'mon, let's get you home." Evan carefully put his arm behind his friend's back and eased him up. Kurt slung his arm over Evan's shoulders to stay balanced once he was on his feet. His vision swam and he tightened his hold until Kitty was on his other side.

"They seriously messed you up, huh?" Evan said as they headed towards the car.

Kurt snorted, "I've been through vorse, but yeah, that's one vay to put it."

"Hush. No more talking for you." Kitty chided as they slid into the backseat together.

"Ah'll drive." Rogue stated, having gotten her license a little while ago.

Kurt leaned back in his seat, trying to block out the pain that resonated in his chest, head, shoulder…actually it was hard to find something that didn't hurt.

Kitty watched him worriedly as they started driving, Jean and Scott following behind them. The car was dead silent aside from their breathing until they reached the mansion, at which point Rogue slowly brought them to a stop to avoid jarring Kurt.

"You don't look good Creature." She said as she helped him out of the car.

"Feel like shit too." He replied.

With some work, they were able to get inside and into the elevator to go to the med. Wing. Once there, Kurt lay down on the exam table and didn't move aside from the slight rising and falling of his chest.

"Ah'll go find Hank." Rogue stated.

"I'll go tell the Prof and Aunty O." Evan left after her.

Jean and Scott shared a look.

"Rock paper scissors?" Jean offered.

"You'd win." Scott grumbled.

The red head blushed slightly, "Well, it'll take both of us anyway." She sighed.

"We'll go find Logan." Scott said tiredly before leading his girlfriend out.

Kitty sighed and sat down beside Kurt.

"I'm surprised you're so calm being down here." She stated, playing with her hair.

"I'm close to being delirious…you'd be calm too." He managed to mumble out.

Kitty snorted softly before quieting, "Sorry, that isn't funny."

Kurt smiled slightly, "Don't vorry about it. I like it vhen you laugh."

Kitty blushed, "That's the delirium talking."

"M'not completely delirious yet Katzchen." Kurt said softly as someone's hurried footsteps approached the room. Not long after, Dr. Hank McCoy entered.

"What happened?" he then stopped and seemed to be in shock over the fact that it was Kurt who was on the table.

Kurt sighed, "Just knock me out with something before I can freak out please."

Hank sighed and went over to look over the smaller blue mutant.

"Not so fast, mini me, we still have to check you over."

Kurt groaned and Hank chuckled slightly, before turning to Kitty.

"I'm going to have to ask you to leave my dear."

Kitty jutted out her bottom lip but Kurt's tail gently nudged her out her seat. She looked to him and he smiled slightly, "I'll be fine, Katze."

She sighed, but left anyway.

Hank helped Kurt sit up and then take off his sweater and shirt before gently prodding him here and there to find any broken ribs.

"Hey, careful!" Kurt jumped.

Beast rolled his eyes, "The sooner I finish this, the sooner I can sedate you."

Kurt seemed to run this through his mind before sighed and clutching the edge of the examination table in a death grip.

Hank sighed and went back to his examination, ignoring Kurt's occasional jump, hiss or muttered German expletive.

oOo

Logan paced back and forth in front of the Professor's desk.

"That's it Chuck! I didn't think it was a good idea ta send the kids back and what happens? We send 'em back! And now we're payin' for it!" He glared out the window as if the look alone would set the students of Bayville high on fire.

"They watched one of their friends get beat up, Charles. Right before their eyes. This is not doing them any good." Ororo, always the mother, added in a quiet voice. In truth, she wanted to be downstairs and checking up on Kurt.

Xavier only bowed his head and sighed, "I know…I know…"

Logan growled, "Well, what the hell do we do?"

Charles looked up, a strange fire of determination in his eyes that they hadn't seen before.

"Start the car, we're paying a visit to the school board." He stated, rolling out from behind his desk.

oOo

A/N: Unbetaed (not looking for a beta either) so any and all mistakes are mine alone.

Oddly enough, it was an anonymous review that made me update this, so thank you for reminding me to get my head out of my own ass and update. Hopefully this will get me back on the path of regular updates once again, but it's nearing the end of semester and I fuc…freaking, hate math. So you'll excuse me if I continue to try and keep my sanity until I'm free to write to my heart's content once again.

Looking forward to some reviews (that is if anyone is still reading any of this)

And to my friends who I have been neglecting: I haven't forgotten about you, but sometimes real life get's in the way and you have to roll with the punches, otherwise you'll be KO'ed before the end of the first round. You know who you are loves.

Hoping your lives don't suck.


	9. Crashed

Chapter 9: Crashed

Disclaimer: Honestly? You think I own the X Men?

Anything in brackets [like this] is German.

oOo

When Kurt came to, he was still in the med bay, but this time he was in one of the beds and he was in much less pain.

~_Thank God. ~_

Slowly sitting up, he looked around before quickly noticing he was wearing only a pair of grey sweatpants and nothing more; well, not counting the white bandages that wrapped around his upper body.

He grimaced before lying back down.

"And how are we doing?"

Kurt gave Hank a blank stare, "Really? You're asking that?"

Hank chuckled, "Well it's not often I get to joke around with you is it?"

Kurt rolled his eyes but smiled slightly. From his first day in the mansion, he had liked Hank and Hank him. They actually had a pretty strong father-son friendship thanks to their equally blue visages.

"Well, you're healing up pretty fast."

"Yay high-metabolism!" Kurt sang.

Hank laughed, "Very true."

Kurt sighed, "So…how long do I have to stay here and what did I miss?"

"Always straight to the point." Beast mumbled to himself in an amused voice. "Well, you can head upstairs at any time. And as for what you missed…well, the Professor, Logan and Ororo went to the school board."

"Vas?" Kurt jolted up before wincing.

"Careful! You're healing is fast, but not 'Logan' fast. Goodness, how many times do I have to tell you that?"

"They vent to the school board? Vhat are they trying to do?" Kurt blinked a few times.

Hank sighed, "I have no idea. All I know is that Ororo came down to check and you before they left."

Kurt groaned and put his face in his hands, "Gott, this is all my fault."

Hank squeezed his shoulder, "How so?"

Kurt, not looking up, told Hank about the entire day.

"I see…well, if anything, you just took the steps that we were afraid to. Besides, it seems like you got more than enough of a punishment." Beast tried to console him.

Kurt just groaned again, "Gott, vhat if the other go to school and one of _them_ gets hurt? Oh Gott if Kitty…" he stopped his words, but his mind kept running through the possibilities. It even decided to add a few images as well.

_Evan, scarily pale under multiple bruises._

_Rogue, crying as her hands bled._

_Kitty, beaten to a pulp and bleeding out in his arms._

He gasped and brought himself back to the present, but his heart was racing.

Hank gently stroked back his hair and rubbed his back, "It'll be alright."

Kurt rubbed at his eyes with one hand, "I can't take this." He muttered.

Hank sighed, "You of everyone know of humanities evils."

"Lived 'em…Survived 'em, got the t-shirt…I don't want them to go through it to." Kurt finished in a broken voice.

"Kurt, please calm down. It's not helping."

Nightcrawler nodded, trying to steady his breathing and force his emotions back down.

Hank could see him struggling to do so. Unlike a few months ago when the boy had been able to pull up his shields in a moment's notice or push away anything he was feeling…he couldn't now.

"I can't…it's not working." Kurt hugged himself, his tail wrapping around him as well.

Hank felt his shoulders slumped as the boy struggled to block himself off from the world.

~_Time to bring out the big guns. ~_ He thought before leaving his post by Kurt's side.

He opened the door out to the hall making Kitty look up.

"Kitty…you need to get in here."

Shadowcat jumped to her feet and rushed after him, the door sliding shut behind them.

Kurt was still curled into himself, biting his lip so hard blood was starting to run down his chin and now he was clutching at his head like it was about to explode.

Kitty raised a hand to her mouth before running over and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

"Hey…hey, it's okay." She whispered softly.

Kurt took in a shaky breath as he squeezed his eyes shut.

"No, no, no, no…" he shook his head, trying not to feel.

"Kurt…Fuzzy Elf…_please_…" she whispered.

Kurt swallowed before turning and burying his face in her shoulder and starting to sob. Kitty hugged him tightly and rubbed his back.

"It's okay, it's okay…" she said gently.

Hank smiled at her sadly, 'Thank you.' He mouthed before leaving the room. Kurt was in good hands.

oOo

Kurt wouldn't wish what he was feeling on his worst enemy. It felt like his entire mind was being ripped apart, and then pieced back together; slowly and painfully. He tried to rid himself of the mental pain by breathing, but it only made everything worse.

"Kurt, calm down." Kitty's voice was soft and gentle, but it only made everything worse somehow. More feeling, more emotion, more images, it crashed over him.

"Stop…please stop." He whispered softly.

"Kurt…I don't know what you want to stop." Her voice was filled with unshed tears.

_More feeling, more emotion, more images, more hurt…_

He squeezed his eyes shut and stopped breathing. It took a little while but everything slowly started to fade into the background as he descended into the unknown.

Then someone hit him on the back and everything came flying back as he was forced to breathe again.

"Stop it, damn it!" Kitty yelled, or rather _shrieked_.

Kurt blinked rapidly, "I can't take this." He managed to get out, "Please just make it stop."

"Make _what_ stop Kurt?"

"_Everything_."

Kitty blinked a few times, wishing she had telepathy. She _needed_ to know what was going through Kurt's head.

"Kurt, walk me through it. What are you feeling that you want to stop?" she had panicked when he'd stopped breathing, now she just needed to figure out why he'd done so.

"I…I don't know."

"Try and tell me."

He took a shaky breath, his face still buried in her shoulder, "Hurt…everything hurts." He took another breath, "I…I don't know what else. There's too much."

Kitty felt the answer hit her with the same force of the X Jet. Kurt was _feeling_, that was what was going on. He'd blocked everything for so long, and now those shields were finally gone. It was all hitting him and he had no idea what to do about it. After so many years it was probably an entirely foreign concept to feel strong emotion, it was causing him physical and mental strife.

"Kurt…yield to it. Stop fighting what you're feeling. _Let go_."

"But…I can't. I just…"

"Yes you can. I'll be here okay?"

He was still shaking so she continued, "I know you're scared, I know this is different, but you need to trust me…I know you trust me, Kurt."

Nightcrawler drew in a breath and closed his eyes, yielding to everything…

As it washed over him, he began to identify was he was feeling. Terror, sadness, fear, hurt, joy, rage and…_love?_

He slowly started to calm down, his mind relaxing and his body following. The shaking left and he closed his eyes, leaning against Kitty slightly.

"There…that wasn't so hard was it?" Kitty gently stroked his hair. He gently nuzzled his face into the crook of her neck, arm tears still slipping from his eyes.

Kitty could feel the dampness on her skin and continued to hold him. This was a breakthrough that had a long time coming.

She just wished it hadn't been so hard on him.

oOo

Kurt swallowed and pulled away from Kitty, rubbing furiously at his eyes.

"You okay?" Kitty's voice was soft.

"I just…I need to get out of here." Kurt climbed from the bed, surprising Kitty.

"What? That's it?"

Kurt turned and gave Kitty a sad look, "Give me some time Keety."

She watched in slight shock as he left the room. She sucked on her bottom lip and counted to one hundred-fine _twenty_- in her mind before following after him. Of course, by that time, the hall was empty and the elevator was headed upstairs.

She sighed and leaned against the wall, sliding down to sit on the cool metal floor.

~_God…what now? ~_

oOo

Kurt took the elevator upstairs, once he reached the main floor though he bamfed to his room before the doors even opened.

Reappearing in his room he dropped onto his bed and stared at the ceiling.

~_Screw it. ~_ He thought before flipping onto his stomach and hanging over the edge of his bed to dig under it with one hand. He grasped blindly until his hand closed over his prize. Pulling it out and laying back on his bed, he switched the phone on.

He took a few breathes before using the tip of his tail to dial the number, his fingers too chunky for the small buttons.

He closed his eyes and took a few careful breathes as the phone rang.

["Hello?"]

He let out a sigh of relief.

["Mama?"]

["Kurt? Honey is that you?] Her voice was suddenly very excited and disbelieving.

["Yeah, it's me."] He replied, feeling yet another wave of emotion overcome him, but this time, he yielded to it.

["Oh darling, how are you? Are you okay?"]

He took a shaky breath, ["Mama…I really just need you to talk to me. Please, I need to hear your voice."] He got out in a sad voice.

["Baby are you okay?"]

He sniffed, suddenly feeling like he'd been thrown back in time and he was five years old again and needed his Mama to chase away the monsters.

["I just need to hear your voice."] He replied.

oOo

Kitty, having relocated herself to her bedroom, clutched a pillow to her chest. She'd been staring at the same part of the wall for a good part of the last hour and she hadn't moved once.

There was a soft knock on her door.

"Come in." she called softly, not looking away from the wall.

The door opened and then closed a few seconds later. Soft footsteps were heard coming close to her, but she still didn't move.

The mattress behind her sunk down as someone sat next to her.

"Katzchen?"

She whipped around so fast she got a head rush but didn't care when she saw Kurt's face inches from hers.

He gave her a half smile, "Hi."

She just gave him a look, silently asking him 'Are you going to hurt me again?'.

He seemed to catch the message as he reached out and tucked her hair behind her ear.

"Thank you." He whispered softly.

She sighed and looked down, gently taking his hand with hers. She brought it up and rubbed it against her cheek, feeling the soft fur on his knuckles against her skin.

Kurt got a small smile on his face at her actions.

"Are you okay now?" she asked softy.

His shoulders slumped slightly, like he'd just taken on a great weight, "I don't know. Everything just got a whole lot more complicated."

She got a bitter-sweet smile on her face, "Yeah, it's called life."

He chuckled slightly, "Guess it vas due, huh?"

"Kinda."

He took a deep breath and let it out, "God…my mind's still spinning. How do you survive?"

She smiled and kissed the palm of his hand, "Simple. We don't block ourselves from the world…" he gave her a look, quite easily described as 'Easier said than done'.

"And…we have friends who help us take it one day at a time."

He shook his head, looking like he'd just figured something out but he wasn't all that fond of the answer.

"Why did you do it anyway?" she asked softly.

His head jerked up, panic on his face.

"Why did you try and block out the whole world?"

He looked down again, looking pained, "Some stuff happened to me a few years ago that made me do it. I couldn't handle it…the world in general…I couldn't take it anymore." His free hand found hers and squeezed it tightly.

"I became rather well acquainted with the more barbaric side of humanity."

"What do you mean?" she was gently rubbing circle on the back of the hand that held hers.

He closed his eyes and seemed to center himself before taking her hand and leading it up to his neck.

"Feel." He uttered softly.

Looking concerned, Kitty started kneading her fingers through his fur and froze when she felt skin. A jagged scar stood out against the skin there. Tracing it, she found it disappeared into the shirt he was wearing.

"It goes all the way down to my ankles. They vrapped me in barb wire." He continued to tell her _everything_. Going from when he was six and nearly stoned to death like in biblical times to when he was fourteen and nearly burned at the stake for the fifth time.

As he finished, Kitty-sweet little none swearing Kitty- said only one thing.

"Ho-ly shit."

Kurt let out a short bark of laughter and gave her an odd look as she continued to stare.

"How did you-How is it-I mean…Son of a…"

Kurt took a relieved breath and tugged her to him, hugging her gently as he continued to smile.

Kitty, shocked out of her daze, managed to form a complete sentence, "Are you feeling okay?"

He chuckled and kissed the top of her head, "Never better."

oOo

A/N: Merry extremely belated Christmas and New Year!


	10. Changes

Chapter 10: Changes

Disclaimer: Nada.

A/N: Happy, happy unbirthday to you! (well better late than never) I have been a very bad girl and have forgotten several birthdays these past several months: this is the beginning of my list.

**So this chapter is dedicated to the birthday of Carefree Luminary. My brother in arms, we shall continue our fight on the battlefield of Kurtty together!**

oOo

The doors opened before Scott and he raised an eyebrow as loud metal music hit him like a wall.

~_Uh…okay. ~_

Walking in, he went down to the back of the garage where he found a grease speckled and shirtless Kurt leaning over the engine of his car.

"Kurt?" the blue mutant apparently didn't hear him over the music and Scott went to the stereo and pushed the pause button.

Kurt turned around, "Oh, hey Scott. Vhat's up?"

"You okay man?" he crossed his arms and leaned against the counter.

Kurt shrugged, "Ja, vhy?"

"No reason, you've just been acting a little weird."

Kurt snorted, "Vhen do I act _normal_?"

Scott chuckled and shook his head, "Point taken. Still…"

Kurt rose one eyebrow, "_Still_…"

Cyclops sighed, "I don't know. You've just got me a little worried."

Kurt gave him a small smile, "Vell, Danke for vorrying, but I'm fine."

Scott sighed, "If you say so." He hit the play button on the stereo and started walking away.

Kurt went back to his car, but instead of working, he held onto either side and bowed his head.

~_God this is so weird. It's been a month, but there's no way I'm used to this. ~_ He sighed and stood, slamming the hood of his car down and whipping his hands of grease.

He shut off the music, leaving the garage eerily quiet before he bamfed upstairs and into his room to have a shower.

An hour later, he didn't feel any better. If anything, he was stir-crazy.

Hands shoved in the pockets of his coat he wandered the grounds, the sounds of a game of mutant ball going on in the distance.

He continued walking before veering off to the left and entering the trees. The shade overtook him and he disappeared in the shadows. Happily invisible to anyone, Kurt travelled the distance to the small clearing he had silently dubbed his own.

The grass was not as green as it had been when Kitty had found him, a sign of the approach of autumn, but he lay down in the middle just as he always did and stared up at the sky. It was nice being out here, away from peering eyes. Thanks to his breakdown a month ago he could no longer hide his emotions. Sure people were still wary of him –and for good reason- but he couldn't remain expressionless enough or control his temper very well. He'd gotten angry before, but it had always just been a dull ache instead of now how it was a sharp knife diving into his thoughts and actions. Oh the joys of expression.

The good news was that he'd gotten a lot of practice time in the DR doing single runs because of it.

He sighed and watched the clouds pass. To top everything off if he even _tried_ blocking his emotions to avoid some sort mess, Kitty would give him a knowing look followed by a glare and he knew he had to stop 'or else'. It was worse because he knew she was right. The old saying "men can say anything, a woman will still be right" came to mind.

"Hey, it's Wild Blue Yonder Boy!"

He couldn't help but silently groan as he sat up and turned around to see Tabitha leaning against a tree. Of all people to find him it just _had_ to be her. He wondered again if the Universe really did hate him that much.

"Hello Tabitha."

She gave him a grin, "That's it? I expected a warmer welcome, Blue Boy."

He rolled his eyes and stood. Tabitha was nice enough sure, but he just wasn't in the mood to deal with her.

"Well still I came to see you. I was wondering where you were." She started walking towards him.

Kurt immediately felt the stirrings of unease, something wasn't right here.

"Vhat do you vant Tabitha?"

She shrugged, finally coming to stand before him, "Nothing much Blue…how are things going for you?"

There was another stab of unease shooting through him. Alarms were going off in his head and it was causing him so much confusion he knew he would get a headache if things continued.

"I just vant a straight answer." He growled.

She smiled and leaned up closer to him but Kurt held his ground.

"Here's your straight answer." She whispered before attacking his lips with hers.

Kurt was so shocked by the turn of events he couldn't move. It was only when he heard a soft gasp Tabitha released him and they both looked to see Kitty standing at the edge of the clearing. Her face was white with shock and her mouth was open with her eyes looking shocked and hurt.

Kurt caught the smirk on Tabitha's lips as Kitty turned and ran back through the woods.

Kurt growled angrily and –without thinking- roundhouse kicked Tabitha's legs out from under her. The blonde crashed to the ground and Kurt gave her such a cold glare she wanted nothing more than to be as far from him as possible.

"If she hates me because of vhat you just did I'll make sure you find a reason to be scared of your own shadow." He promised darkly before bounding after Kitty.

He ran through the trees at such a speed they were a blur to his eyes. He finally broke free from them and found himself near Ororo's garden. He listened hard and caught the sounds of someone crying nearby.

Following the sound he rounded the azaleas and the sunflowers to find Kitty on a bench, her knees drawn up to her chest as she sobbed into them.

Kurt had no idea what to make of this and settled for walking over slowly and sitting a little ways away from her on the bench.

"Katzchen?" he spoke quietly and she looked up.

Her eyes were red and tears tracked down her cheeks.

"Keety, please talk to me."

She sniffed, "You were kissing Tabby."

"_Correction_. Tabitha that vas throwing herself on me. I had no wish to kiss her nor vill I ever." He spoke sharply, barely keeping the growl from his voice.

Kitty sniffed, "So…you _weren't_ making out with her?"

"No." he answered, "But I'm curious as to why the sight of her kissing me garnered such a reaction from you." On a whim he brushed a loc of her hair behind her ear.

She blushed, color finally coming back to her shock paled face. "I don't know…I was just…"

Kurt couldn't stop the smile that came to his lips and he gently stroked her hair, the silky curls threading through his fingers.

"You veren't…_jealous_ vere you?" he wondered if he sounded as startled as he thought he did.

Her blush darkened a shade and a half, confirming his guess.

"Keety, vhy vould you be jealous of Tabitha, of all people?" confusion wasn't a strong enough term for what he was feeling.

She sighed and looked down at her hands as she put her legs down and her hands on her lap, "I guess…I felt hurt, a bit." He squeezed her shoulder, silently asking her to continue, "It's just…I feel like I'm helping you, and to see you kissing her when she hadn't done anything…" she started biting her lip, something he knew she only did when she was nervous.

As she'd spoke he felt slight anger, but it left when he saw her expression. She was leaving something out, something important.

"That's not all." And he had to figure out what.

"You can see right through me, can't you?" she whispered, more like she was talking to herself than him. Then she looked up, "It was also because you were kissing her and…and not me." The last part was spoken hesitantly and through yet another blush.

More shock crashed over Kurt and it took him a few seconds to sort out this new information before he realized something. Kissing Tabitha had felt wrong, because she hadn't been Kitty.

"Katzchen…" he cupped her cheek and turned her to face him. Her eyes were filled with unshed tears and he smiled softly. Then he kissed her.

This time it felt right, natural. Kitty was frozen for the amount of three seconds before she kissed him back. He was quite careful not to slip up and knick her with his fangs but she didn't seem worried in any way as she wound her arms around his neck. This sent him to hold her closer, he didn't even remember putting her arms around her waist but there you go.

So many emotions had been going through him the past four weeks that it seemed he hadn't been able to catch a break, but as he kissed Kitty his inner turmoil calmed. Only a single emotion seemed to reverberate within him. _Love_. Along with it smaller sensations threaded though his being; acceptance, safety, happiness, joy, calmness and several others. It was like he'd been wearing a blindfold, spun sixty times and then sent wandering down a path on wobbly legs. Now he had steadied, taken the blindfold off and was standing before a calm lake, crisp fresh air invading his senses and feelings of ecstasy floating around him.

He felt alive.

oOo

Walking in for dinner Kitty felt like she was flying. Kurt had his arm securely around her waist, holding her to him. The act was almost possessive but Kitty found she didn't mind. It felt so different being with Kurt like this, but it was a good different.

Apparently it was a shocking different to everyone else. The few people already in the dining room for dinner stared without remorse at them. She decided that was to be expected though; she had been terrified to be in the same room as Kurt several months ago. Had it really only been three and a half months since he'd saved her from Mystique?

As they sat down she saw Evan hand Rogue a few bills and she giggled slightly. Kurt apparently saw what they were doing as well because he grinned and rolled his eyes. Evan and Rogue betting against it each other was a normal occurrence, as was Rogue winning said bets.

The others were still staring at them still and Kurt –being Kurt- whipped his head at them and glared. This caused everyone to look down and away. Kitty sighed inwardly but knew nothing could be done. Kurt hated being stared at, nothing would change that, _ever._ So she squeezed his hand and waited for everyone else to come in and for dinner to be served.

oOo

Professor Charles Xavier was a man who could safely say it was hard to surprise him. He'd seen much in his life, watched many different people change and develop under his care. He was still watching but this was the first time he had ever been this shocked.

Kurt had come to his Institute cold, unwavering and blocked off from everyone. He had seen how the rest of his students had reacted to him. All in fear and some in downright terror. The boy had shown no outward hints of caring and his mind was locked up tight enough that Charles had a hard time reading even the most basic of feelings and thoughts from the seventeen year old.

Kitty was the exact opposite. She was an open book to him and he could easily sense her terror at being near Nightcrawler. The timid girl's fear was understandable, considering the scene by which she had discovered her powers. He was only worried she would become so fearful of him he would need to take drastic measures.

Not once had he worried Kurt was a danger to anyone else. Despite his unreadable mind when he came to the Institute, when he had first met Kurt the boy's mind had been open to him. That was what happened when someone was unconscious from a blow to the head after all. He'd bypassed the boy's more recent memories to find earlier ones from when he was younger. He found Kurt's true nature under the cool, dangerous one. He found a warm, caring person with a strong sense of humour and a gentle persona that had been driven down by the boy's need to protect himself from the world. His light hearted personality had been sufficiently killed as Kurt discovered the world's cruelties. It was one of the worst things Charles could have imagined happening to someone, in fact he hadn't thought such things truly possible, but the evidence had stood before him four months ago, duffle bags in hand and waiting to be assigned a room in the Xavier Institute.

Now everything had changed.

When Kurt had saved Kitty that true personality of his came out. It had dominated his entire being in those key seconds as Mystique prowled closer to Shadowcat. Kurt hadn't acted in violence as he had been shown to before; instead he grabbed Kitty and got her away. Those small changes continued until everything came to a head and that side of him he'd buried so ferociously broke free. His mental turmoil was staggering and Charles had sadly believed Kurt may go insane…then Kitty came in.

She found a way to calm him down, bring him back to the real world and save him from himself.

He had seen many miraculous things in his life, but this one took the cake. Kitty had broken free of her fear and become stronger as she got closer to Kurt. Nightcrawler slowly let her in, and today he let her in the whole way.

He watched the newly formed couple eat dinner with a content smile on his face. They acted no different than normal, at least not to anyone else, but to the observant eye several things were different.

They were sitting closer first of all, their hands occasionally brushed and through a slight slide of his mind over Kitty's he found that they had hooked their feet together, Kurt's foot wrapping around the back of her ankle.

He smiled; things were working out well for his students. Changes he hadn't thought possible were taking place right before his eyes.

So yes, Charles Xavier was hard to surprise, but that didn't mean it was impossible.

oOo

Kurt slept soundly that night, his sleep undisturbed by nightmares for the first time in a while. When he woke up he was almost hyperactive. This extra energy was put to good use in the Danger Room session they had the next day. Logan found himself shocked more than once by the energy and commitment both Nightcrawler and Shadowcat put into their training. The very fact that Kitty was doing incredibly well and didn't need her teammates to bail her out made a small smile come to his face.

oOo


	11. How To, Don't Do and Why

Chapter 11: How To, Don't Do, and Why?

Disclaimer: Just playing in the Marvel sandbox...I want my own .

Kitty nearly skipped down the hall to Kurt's room, a bright smile on her face as she hummed to herself. Stopping before her boyfriend's door she knocked a few times before phasing in.

"Kurt?"

Said boyfriend looked up/down from his book and looked up/down at the ground from the chandelier. He smiled, "Hey Katzchen. Fancy seeing you here."

She looked up and grinned, "The Professor wants to see everyone in his office, so get your blue butt down here."

Kurt grinned again and dropped from the lighting fixture, flipping in the air so he landed on his feet.

"Nice acrobatics by the way." She praised as they walked to the Professor's study, hand in hand.

Kurt only grinned as they entered the study to see everyone else was already there. The next thing they noticed was that the Professor looked very grim, immediately setting them both on edge.

"I don't think we're going to like this." Kurt muttered as they say down beside Rogue.

"I very much doubt it, Kurt." Charles said in reply.

Kurt tensed and Kitty squeezed his hand as the Professor looked over all six of them before speaking.

"You're to continue going to school by order of the school board."

Kurt felt sick to his stomach and leaned back in the couch as Rogue stood, looking murderous.

"_What?_ Are…are you freaking _kidding_ me?" she shrieked causing Logan to wince.

"Rogue...I truly tried to appeal to them over the fact that Kurt had been attacked but they said that the students were defending themselves and Kurt was maliciously attacking them for no reason."

Kurt couldn't even speak past his shock, in fact he didn't even growl in reply to that particular tidbit of news. He only leaned forward and buried his face in his hands.

"Professor...If we go back there...they'll kill us." Kitty whispered.

The Professor looked down, a pained expression on his face, "Kitty...I tried everything I could think of. I even went to offering to pay them in return for not forcing you to go back to school."

"I don't understand...I thought they _didn't_ want us in school with normal kids." Evan said.

"I don't understand it either, Evan, but there really is nothing I can do."

Kurt stood and swept out of the room, leaving everyone behind. Kitty blinked a few times before following him. She only caught up to her boyfriend when she reached his room. Upon entering she saw he was tossing things into two duffle bags.

"What are you doing?"

"Leaving." He stated evenly.

"W-what?" Kitty paled.

Kurt stopped, his back to her as he shook his head, "I can't stay here, Keety. I just...can't."

"Why? Why would you abandon me?" the words sounded harsh coming from her mouth and she saw Kurt flinch, but she couldn't help it. Abandonment was what she was feeling.

"I..." he trailed off. In all honesty, he was scared, _terrified_. He'd lived a nightmare at that school and he couldn't go back and relive it again.

But what about the others? Could he really just up and leave? Abandoning them to fend for themselves? Could he really leave the people he was starting to see as family?

He could he truly abandon Kitty?

He slammed his hands down on his desk making Kitty jump. He growled and his hands clenched into fists. No, he couldn't abandon them, and more importantly he couldn't abandon _her_.

Kitty stared at him nervously and froze when he stood straight and turned towards her. She stayed in place as he strode quickly over to her and pulled her into his arms. She was wondering what the hell was going on when he covered her lips with kiss and she fell into the pure emotion radiating from him.

When they finally paused her lips felt a little swollen and they were pressed up against each other, leaving no space between them.

"I von't abandon you." He whispered, "Not ever."

She smiled up at him and kissed him passionately, this kiss was much less aggressive than the one before.

"I love you, you know that?"

He smiled slightly, "Love you too."

oOo

Snow was finally falling and settled on Kurt's shoulders as he walked through the park, his image inducer up and in full effect. He tugged his hood up farther, trying to keep warm even as his breath clouded in front of him. There were very few people outside today, most having boarded themselves up in their homes or only left a building to scurry across the street or down the block into their cars or another store. With Christmas fast approaching these shoppers were the most common to be seen. But in the park Kurt was alone, and he was happy with it that way.

With a relaxed sigh he left the park to walk down a much quieter street. Barely a car passed him and he didn't meet a single person. He grinned slightly to himself as he stopped and pushed in the door of a small, discreet shop. A bell tinkled above him and he lowered his hood to look around. Despite his thoughts earlier that year when he'd first come to America he was –God forbid- Christmas shopping. He'd surprised himself by getting a few small things for people here and there. At Kitty's and Evan's prompting he'd actually gotten a bit closer to some of the other residents of the mansion. So he'd gotten Jubilee a gift-card for a store in the mall he knew she liked, a box of dog biscuits –not as a joke either, she honestly enjoyed them- for Rahne along with a studded bracelet. The rest of the male mutants of the mansion were still incredibly uneasy of him. Add to that their jealousy for things he didn't understand (i.e. his ease at talking to the females of the mansion and proficiency in the DR) so he was still a far cry from friends with any of them and therefore had bought nothing for the boys. He'd bought a silk scarf for Rogue, a book on motorcycle mechanics for Evan, and a new leather jacket for Logan. For Jean he got her a novel that just came out and for Scott he got a book titled: The Strategist: An Advanced Guide to Tactics and Planning (something he was sure Mr. Military would like). The Professor had been hard to shop for but he eventually stuck with a psychology book he was pretty sure the man didn't already own. Ororo had been easy, a pair of comfortable gardening gloves that she could use when tending to her plants that were thin enough that she could even wear them while working with her more delicate flowers. And for Hank he got a set of brushes that he knew would come in handy brushing his fur. The older mutant hadn't lived with it as long as he had so no doubt the present would be appreciated. But he hadn't gotten anything for Kitty yet which was why he had chosen this store to find something for her.

He'd purposefully made his image appear older, after all a teenage boy wouldn't be taken seriously when shopping in a jewellery store.

"Hello, hello! How can I help you today?" an older, jovial man appeared out of the back room and smiled at the now twenty or so appearing Kurt.

"I'm looking for something for my girlfriend, what would you suggest?" Through great force of will, he managed to keep his accent to a minimum he found people sometimes treated you better if you didn't sound foreign. Despite all the leaps and bounds humanity had made in racism and bigotry, it was still there, underlying the surface.

The man smiled, "Ah, the girlfriend. Well, how long have you two been together? That's always a good place to start."

Kurt felt his lips twitch slightly, fighting a smile, "Nearly half a year." He was starting from the day he'd saved her to the present. Really, he would be in this store even if he wasn't dating her, so it was quite simple in his mind to put the time of their friendship and actual relationship together.

The man's eyes widened and his greying eyebrows rose, "Well lad, not even half a year? Ya sure you up to buying something like this for her so early?"

Kurt did smile this time, "Positive."

The man's smile came back, "Well, who am I to judge young love?" he chuckled and waved for Kurt to follow him, "Follow me lad, we'll find something."

Kurt followed after the man and ended up in the back corner of the store in front of an array of necklaces. The charms all unique, no two the same, different sizes, colors and chains.

"Now, I'm thinking a ring would give her the wrong message, right?"

Kurt nodded, "She's two years younger than me, so yes. A ring would not be the best present."

The man smiled, "Well then I would suggest a necklace. Every girl loves a nice necklace."[1]

Kurt bent over to look carefully at the display. They were all quite beautiful there was no denying that, but he wanted this gift to be perfect for Kitty.

Heart shaped charms and gems were too mainstream for his liking so he passed those off quickly along with anything gold. Somehow he just couldn't picture Kitty wearing a gold necklace.

Finally he saw something that made a smile appear on his face.

"That one." He pointed to an amethyst pendent necklace on a white gold chain. Above the leaf shaped jewel was white gold moulded into a graceful Celtic knot and he could easily picture Kitty wearing it.

After paying for the necklace and thanking the man Kurt stepped outside and put the necklace box deep in a pocket within his coat before walking back down to the park. He wasn't a very _shoppy_ person, but by his standards he believed he'd done rather well for his friends.

There was that word again, _friends_. So odd to think he actually considered people friends.

~_Hell has officially frozen over. ~_

oOo

Kitty followed at Rogue's heals as they traversed the packed mall.

"Ah hate Christmas shoppin'! People are so annoyin' at this tahme a'year." Rogue growled.

Kitty couldn't help but smile slightly; Rogue angry was funnier than Kurt when he was annoyed. It was almost like they were related.

"Yeah but think positively, we're nearly done." Kitty chirped.

Rogue sighed, "Yeah, yeah, you're rahght…Okay, who's next?"

Kitty looked at the bags she was carrying. The Professor, Mr. Logan, Ms. Ororo, Evan, Jubilee, Rahne, her parents, Hank, Scott, Jean, and Roberto were all covered. She'd even got the other boys gift cards to Best Buy; let them go video game crazy.

"Kurt's the last person we need to shop for." She announced. Silently she knew that whatever shop Rogue pointed them to for her dark boyfriend she'd be able to find something for her Gothic roommate as well. Two birds with one stone, or rather, two Gothic, dark friends in one store.

"Hot Topic's our best bet for that boy. Let's go."

Browsing the shirts Kitty branched off and found something for Rogue quickly, knowing it would be easier to find something for her first, before going back to looking for Kurt.

Rogue giggled, "Hey, check this out." She held up a grey t-shirt that said in dark blue 'People like you are the reason people like me wear these shirts.'

Kitty held up her hand to stifle a laugh, "You gonna get it for him?"

Rogue shrugged, "Maybe as a gag gift." But her tone spoke that she knew the shirt fit Kurt well enough. They went back to looking through the tops.

Rogue eventually did decide to get the shirt for Kurt along with another black one that said in red, 'You have a very nice voice when you aren't speaking.' To which Kitty had stated, "Perfect and ironic."

Meanwhile, Kitty found a simple black t-shirt that would tightly form to Kurt's body that she grabbed at the memory of seeing him without his shirt on. If it showed off his abs she was all for it. She also bought a black and grey thick striped hoodie.

After ringing through all their purchases they abandoned the mall to head home, much to their relief.

"I'm _so_ soaking my feet when we get home." Kitty grossed, leaning back in her seat.

Rogue nodded in agreement, "Ah'm with ya thayhre." He accent thickening in exhaustion.

Reaching the mansion they saw that they weren't the only ones who'd gotten back from shopping and escaped upstairs before anyone could catch sight of the bags they were carrying.

oOo

Kurt used a towel to quickly dry his hair as he stepped out of his bathroom only to find a surprise waiting for him in the form of Evan who was looking quite uncomfortable. Whether this was due to Kurt only wearing a pair of jeans or just generally being in his room was a mystery.

"Uh, hi." Kurt stared at his friend oddly as he tossed the towel in his hamper and grabbed a grey long sleeved shirt.

"Hey, have you got presents for anyone yet?"

Kurt stifled a chuckle, "Yes Evan, I've already got presents for _everyone_." He had a feeling he knew where this was going and hid his smirk as he turned away from Spyke to go through his closet to find his trench coat.

"Crap! I haven't gotten anything for anyone yet!" Evan exclaimed as he started pacing.

Kurt's eyebrows knitted together, "What no bright ideas?" he spoke, still looking for his coat.

"Well, I mean I have ideas, but I hate shopping." 

"You think I don't?" Kurt replied as he left his closet to go to his dresser and start digging there. _Where the heck was his coat?_

Evan sighed, "Yeah, you're right. I'm on my own then?"

"Misery loves company but I'm not your company at this time." He muttered, still searching before finally frowning and violently pushing the drawer back in causing Evan to jump.

"You haven't seen my coat have you? Did I leave it downstairs or something?" he highly doubted it.

"Uh no, you were wearing it yesterday and I saw you come in here with it on. When you came down for dinner you left it up here." Spyke looked around, maybe his friend had gotten forgetful and left it on the back of a chair or something, but that wasn't the case.

Kurt growled to himself, "And my spare is vith Ororo after it got torn in the last training session."

Evan started to get worried and wondered if he should evacuate the room soon, this was leading up to a conclusion no one was going to be happy about. Kurt was very territorial and possessive of his private possessions. This leaked into his friendships and caused him to be incredibly protective as well but that's getting off topic. Either way the only possibility left was that someone had taken his coat which meant they had gone into his room. So, adding this all together you got a 'run the hell away to a bunker in Mexico' situation.

Evan silently wondered if there would be any pieces of the person left to find after Kurt got through with them. He prayed it was a misguided attempt from someone to do something nice and not some moron playing a joke on Kurt. If it was the first, Kurt would most likely just give them the 'Never do it again.' Look; it was sort of a mix between 'I'm disappointed in you. You should've known better' and 'You're a dead man' but toned down. But if it was the second, it would be almost as bad as Logan in a berserker rage.

Kurt took a deep breath, closing his eyes. Evan easily noticed the sign of his friend attempting to control his temper.

When Kurt looked somewhat calmer, Spyke spoke, "Come on, we can see if anyone else has seen it. Maybe one of the girls came in and took it to get washed or something."

He was saying the words but he was thinking ~_Please let me be right, please let me be right, please let me be right… ~_

He led the still tense Kurt out of the room and down the hall to Kitty and Rogue's where he knocked and waited, continuing his prayer.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Rogue opened the door.

"You haven't taken my coat by chance have you? Or seen anyone else with it?" Kurt asked.

Rogue caught on fast, "Uh no, but maybe Kitty has. Come on in." the boys stepped into the mixed genre room and Kitty looked up from her computer with a smile before Rogue relayed the question.

Kitty bit her lip and shook her head, "Um no, sorry."

Kurt took another breath and seemed to mentally pause himself before continuing.

"Alright, thanks. I'll go ask around."

"We'll help!" Kitty jumped from her bed, hoping to spare someone from an untimely death.

Shadowcat phased halfway down into Amara and Tabby's room and stopped, her jaw dropping.

Tabby was looking at herself in the mirror, while _wearing_ Kurt`s coat.

"Tabitha are you _insane?_" she finished phasing down completely.

Boom-Boom frowned at her, "What are you talking about?"

"You took Kurt's coat _from his room_. He's going to _kill_ you."

"Puh-lease. Like he'd actually do that."

Kitty looked anxiously at the door, hoping Kurt wouldn't hit this room anytime soon.

"Tabby, he's insanely territorial. If you don't give it to me now, he...well I don't even _know_ what he'll do to you."

Tabby rolled her eyes, "C'mon, _you're _his girlfriend, he can't be that bad."

"Tabby, he _likes _me_. _ Okay? He already doesn't like you very much. Don't push it."

She rolled her eyes again but then there was a knock on the door and Kitty felt her heart start to race.

~_Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap! ~_

Tabitha gave her a smile, easily portraying 'now we'll see who's right' before she opened the door, Kitty only crossed herself and prayed. Kurt stood there, just as Kitty had feared, and he took one look at Tabby before his face broke into a ferocious snarl and he stepped in to the room as Boom-Boom backed up.

"Give that back to me, _now._" He growled out, fangs flashing dangerously.

Tabitha gulped and shakily removed the article and handed it to him.

Nightcrawler snatched it from her hand and leaned in so their faces were scant inches away.

"Next time you piss me off, I'll say screw the rules and it'll be you and me in the Danger Room. And you'll remember vhy you vere scared of me in the beginning." He promised darkly.

He backed up and Tabby nodded, now more pale than Rogue.

"Look forward to the next training session." He smiled evilly and Kitty shivered, there was an expression she wasn't fond of on him.

As he left the room, the door slamming behind him, Tabby crumpled to the ground and Kitty walked over to kneel beside her. She didn't pity Tabby or even feel sorry for her, the blonde had it coming and people sometimes needed to learn lasting lessons to avoid future stupidity.

"I told you." Was all she said before continuing her phase down. Landing in a guest room she phased through the door and into the hallway where she headed to the rec. Room.

Easily finding Rogue and Evan she told them of what had occurred and it was a universal, unspoken decision that if anyone was to speak to Kurt until he came to them, it would be Kitty. It wasn't as if Kurt would hurt them, no matter how mad he was, Kitty was just the best at dealing with him when he was like this. Rogue had too short of a temper herself and Evan didn't have the patience.

Sitting down between her friends Kitty let her mind wander. Why was Tabby being so foolish? First she kisses Kurt when he'd never shown any interest in her. Then she not only steals his coat, but she sneaks into his room. Was she crazy? Suicidal? Or just doing it because she was bored?

Deciding she would get a headache if she continued to ponder the problem, she stood and decided to deal with a much simpler problem: Kurt. At least when Kurt was angry he was easy to deal with. You just had to know what was bothering him and what to do to calm him down. Luckily, Kitty was an expert at calming her boyfriend, it was actually simpler now that they were dating because there was one thing he and every other straight male had in common: They were easily distracted when a girl they liked kissed them and pressed themselves up against their bodies. Neither of which Kitty had a problem with.

Instead of going upstairs she travelled down and went to the laundry room where she found Kurt pacing back and forth, the washer already going. Do doubt he wanted to get rid of Tabby's scent on his coat as quickly as possible.

"Hi." She spoke softly from the doorway. Step 1 in calming Kurt down: Give him space, wait until an appropriate time to enter.

He paused, his back to her and his tail swinging rapidly from side to side in a sharp arc; Step 2: Wait until he replies. Don't talk over him, or in a loud voice, that will only anger him more.

"Hey Katzchen." The familiar nickname told her it was safe to come in and she closed the door behind her. This was something like a step 1.5 or 2.5: Make sure you have privacy.

"You okay Fuzzy?" she gently wrapped her arms around his waist.

He sighed and stepped out of her embrace before turning, much to her surprise there was guilt and shame in his eyes.

He sighed and brushed her hair back from her face causing her to smile softly.

"I'm sorry." He whispered softly.

She got a confused look on her face, "For what? Tabitha totally deserved it. I think you're going easy on her personally."

Kurt smiled faintly, "I shouldn't have lost my temper like that."

She hugged him, feeling him tense up and only squeezed tighter. Step 3: Don't let him get away or close himself up.

"Hey, I don't blame you...I know you, you don't like people in your stuff. That's fine. Maybe now Tabby will stop taking my make-up." She attempted to lighten the mood.

Kurt didn't react in any way and remained tense so she stepped back.

"Kurt? What is it?"

He leaned his forehead against hers and closed his eyes, "I...I know I scared you." He admitted in a quiet voice. It was so unlike him, she'd seen him broken into a million pieces, furious, happy and loving, but this was entirely different.

"Hey, it's okay." She cupped his cheek, making him open his eyes. She smiled and kissed him lightly, by now she was winging it from her usual plan of calming him down.

"No it's not."

She sighed and shook her head, "Do you always have to be like this? Can't you just accept that I'm not angry? Yes I was scared, I'll admit that. But you know what, you'd have to be a moron _not_ to be scared in that situation." He blinked a few times, listening intently.

"Kurt, I _love_ you. Nothing is going to change that, got it?"

His smile was small and relieved and he hugged her tightly, kissing her cheek causing her to smile as she hugged him back.

"You're so much smarter than me."

"No, I'm just more experienced." She grinned as they pulled apart, "Now, you owe me."

He looked at her with confusion in his eyes, "Owe you?"

She nodded, matter-of-factly, "Yep. And your coat is in the wash which gives us plenty of time and..." she walked back and found the doorknob, quickly locking it, "We have privacy as well." She smiled slyly as she approached him again, "It _is_ my day to do the laundry."

He smirked slightly and took her into his arms, "And what exactly do you want as my repayment?"

She faux thought, "Hmm...an intimate study of your fangs sounds good."

His smirk widened and he brought her closer to kiss her passionately, to which she happily replied with her arms thrown around his neck.

oOo

A/N: Ah laundry room make out sessions, good times…

[1] Hey. This is true at least where I'm concerned.


End file.
